gfr 

LI  BR  ARY 


OF  THE 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

.  OIKT    OFS 

7  n/ns  %  /jcm/i/x/  Wcr 
/?^mW...OCT  2  8--  1-892-  -    ,  1 
A  ccessions  No..  tf&X<3<*         Shelf  No. 


MODERN  HISTORY, 


FROM   THE  FRENCH  OF 


M,  M  I  C  H  E  L  E  T, 


WITH    AN    INTRODUCTION. 


BY  A.  POTTER,  D.D. 


NEW-YORK: 
HARPER  &  BROTHERS,  8  2  C  L  i  F  F-S  T. 


1846. 


[UJTI7ERSITrl 

©ZP 


l-h' 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1843,  by 

HARPER  &  BROTHERS, 
In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  Southern  District  of  New- York. 


*   OF  THE 

. 


INTRODUCTION. 


THE  last  thirty  years  have  witnessed  re- 
markable improvements  among  the  scholars 
of  Germany  and  France,  in  their  methods  of 
historical  research  and  in  their  style  of  histor- 
ical composition.  In  delineating  the  progress 
of  events,  the  historian  of  these  countries  has 
become  accustomed  to  embrace  a  much  great- 
er variety  of  topics  than  formerly.  He  has 
learned,  too,  to  scrutinize  the  authenticity  of 
facts  more  carefully,  and  to  draw  some  of  his 
most  important  information  from  sources  which 
were  once  regarded  either  as  unworthy  of  his 
notice,  or  as  foreign  from  his  inquiries.  He 
has  also  learned  to  deal  with  facts,  as  signifi- 
cant of  great  principles,  and  to  fix  their  histor- 
ic value  according  as  they  represent  more  or 
less  clearly  and  expressively  the  essential  fea- 
tures of  an  age  or  the  important  revolutions  of 
a  system.  In  fine,  these  writers  have  been 
gradually  imbodying  in  practice  the  fine  idea 


Vlll  INTRODUCTION. 

that  history  is  only  philosophy  teaching  by  ex- 
ample ;  and  they  have  striven  to  make  her  les- 
sons alike  clear  and  impressive.  The  subscri- 
ber is  not  insensible  of  the  difficulty  of  all  such 
attempts,  nor  of  the  fallacies  which  have  been 
perpetrated  under  the  imposing  title  of  the  Phi- 
losophy  of  History.  Still,  every  effort  to  make 
history  more  full,  accurate,  and  instructive, 
merits  applause,  and  it  is  an  effort  in  which 
the  two  great  nations  just  mentioned  have  been 
eminently  successful.  The  learned  and  inde- 
fatigable Germans  took  the  lead  in  it,  and  they 
have  been  followed  with  yet  greater  brilliancy, 
and  with  hardly  inferior  industry,  by  several 
French  historians.  The  names  of  Guizot,  Ville- 
main,  Mignet,  Thiers,  the  two  Thierrys,  Sis- 
mondi,  Barante,  and  Michelet,  among  the 
French,  will  at  once  occur  to  the  student  of 
history  as  justifying  this  remark.  It  has  long 
been  considered  the  reproach  of  English  and 
American  scholars,  that  so  little  has  hitherto 
been  accomplished  towards  diffusing  the  same 
spirit  of  research  and  the  same  just  conceptions 
of  historical  study  in  two  countries  which,  of 
all  others,  have  the  deepest  interest  in  possess- 
ing them. 


INTRODUCTION.  Jx 

To  assist  in  some  slight  degree  towards  re- 
moving this  reproach,  and  to  introduce  to  the 
knowledge  of  the  public  generally  an  element- 
ary work  conceived  and  executed  after  this 
new  method,  is  the  main  object  of  the  present 
translation.  The  author,  M.  Michelet,  is  one 
of  the  most  learned,  laborious,  and  elegant  of 
that  remarkable  school,  who  have  been  enga- 
ged during  the  last  twenty  years,  in  France,  in 
illustrating  ancient  and  modern  history.  His 
intense  devotion  to  his  studies  is  said  to  have 
ruined  his  health,  and  will  probably  deprive  the 
world  of  the  full  fruit  of  his  researches.*  With 
great  philosophical  sagacity,  he  combines  what 
is  so  apt  to  be  wanting  in  the  German  histo- 
rians— a  brilliant  imagination,  a  clear  and  pic- 
turesque style,  and  great  felicity  of  illustration. 
Universal  histories,  especially  if  in  the  form  of 
abridgments,  are  usually  meager  and  spiritless. 
The  reader  will  find  that  Michelet,  like  his 
great  predecessor  Bossuet,  is  an  exception. 
His  summary  is  constantly  relieved  by  reflec- 
tions full  of  weight  and  vivacity,  and  his  gen- 

*  His  principal  works  are  a  History  of  France  (unfinished) ;  a  History 
of  ike  Republic  of  Rome  (a  translation  of  which  is  now  preparing) ;  Me- 
moirs of  Luther  (compiled  from  his  own  writings) ;  Selections  from  Vico 
(with  notices  of  his  Life  and  Writings) ;  Chronological  Tables,  &c.,  &c. 


X  INTRODUCTION. 

eralities  are  made  significant  and  interesting 
by  examples  as  vivid  as  they  are  novel. 

Another  circumstance  which  gives  interest 
to  the  work,  while  it  calls,  at  the  same  time, 
for  some  caution  in  accepting  its  conclusions, 
is,  that  the  author  has  been  accustomed  to  sur- 
vey history  from  a  point  very  different  from 
that  occupied  by  English  and  American  histo- 
rians. He  is  a  Frenchman,  a  monarchist,  and 
a  Roman  Catholic ;  and,  though  more  than  usu- 
ally free  from  prejudices,  it  is  not  to  be  expect- 
ed that  he  should  escape  them  entirely.  To 
those  who  are  sincerely  desirous  to  take  an 
enlarged  and  philosophical  view  of  events,  it 
must  sometimes  be  grateful  to  neutralize  the 
force  of  their  own  prepossessions  by  the  aid  of 
tolerant  and  enlightened  minds,  who  have  been 
formed  under  different  systems  of  religion  and 
law.  It  is  due  to  the  author  to  add  that  he  is 
no  bigot.  A  Roman  Catholic,  he  still  acknowl- 
edges with  gratitude  the  inestimable  blessings 
conferred  on  the  world  by  the  Protestant  Ref- 
ormation ;  a  monarchist,  his  sympathies  are 
still  with  the  people  ;  a  Frenchman,  and  there- 
fore bound,  as  he  supposes,  in  common  with 
all  Frenchmen,  to  regard  "  his  glorious  coun- 


INTRODUCTION.  XI 

try  as  the  pilot  of  the  great  vessel  of  human- 
ity,"* he  has  yet  a  heart  and  an  understanding 
large  enough  to  do  justice,  with  few  excep- 
tions, to  virtue  and  greatness,  wherever  he 
finds  them. 

It  was  the  subscriber's  intention  to  have  ani- 
madverted in  notes  on  some  views  of  the  au- 
thor's which  he  regards  as  erroneous.  The 
unexpected  bulk,  however,  to  which  the  vol- 
ume has  swelled  prevents  the  execution  of 
this  design,  and  he  therefore  leaves  this  task  to 
the  discrimination  of  the  reader  or  instructer. 

While  this  work  will  be  useful  to  general 
readers,  its  more  immediate  object  is  to  furnish 
a  good  text-book  in  modern  history  for  schools 
and  colleges.f  In  Guizot's  History  of  Civili- 
zation in  Europe  we  have  philosophy  without 
facts.  In  most  abridgments  used  in  seminaries 
of  learning,  we  have  facts  without  philosophy. 
This  work  seems  to  have  struck  the  golden 
mean  so  essential  in  a  good  text-book,  and  the 
subscriber  has  only  to  regret  that  the  circum- 
stances under  which  the  translation  was  made, 
and  the  unavoidable  interruptions  to  which  he 

*  See  Preface  to  Michelet's  Introduction  d  VHistoire  Universelle. 
f  It  has  been  adopted  as  a  text-book  by  the  Royal  Council  of  the  Uni- 
Tersity  of  France, 


Xll  INTRODUCTION. 

has  been  subjected,  have  prevented  its  attain- 
ing greater  precision  and  spirit.  He  trusts  it 
will  not  be  found  altogether  unworthy  of  its 
original  or  of  its  object 

It  was  also  proposed,  in  the  first  instance,  to 
add  questions  for  the  assistance  of  instructers 
and  pupils.  The  want  of  room  prevents  this ; 
but  the  subscriber  may  be  allowed  to  remark, 
that  if  those  questions  had  been  prepared,  they 
would  not  have  superseded  labour  on  the  part 
either  of  teacher  or  scholar.  Little  faith  is  re- 
posed in  methods  of  teaching  which  relieve 
either  of  these  parties  from  the  necessity  for 
exertion.  It  should  rather  be  our  object  to 
awaken  and  encourage  such  exertion,  and 
hence  these  questions  would  have  been  so  fra- 
med as  to  provide  the  pupil  with  subjects  for 
examination  beyond  the  limits  of  his  text-book. 
This  volume  will  be  found  to  contain  many 
allusions  and  hints  which  must  prove,  unless 
explained,  quite  unintelligible  to  young  stu- 
dents, and  many  brief  notices,  also,  of  events 
and  revolutions  which  deserve  to  be  investi- 
gated. The  editor  would  suggest,  that  the 
student  may,  in  many  instances,  be  left  with 
great  advantage  to  prosecute  these  investiga- 


INTRODUCTION.  X1U 

tions,  and  work  out  the  explanation  of  these 
hints  for  himself;  proper  books  being  pointed 
out,  and  the  fruit  of  his  inquiries  being  brought 
to  the  teacher  for  his  examination  and  appro- 
val. Such  a  course  would  render  the  progress 
of  a  class  through  the  book  necessarily  slow, 
but  it  would  be  a  progress  fraught  with  un- 
speakable advantages  to  the  tastes  and  habits 
of  the  scholar. 

In  conclusion,  the  subscriber  has  only  to  ex- 
press his  hope  that  this  work  may  contribute, 
in  some  degree,  to  diffuse  among  the  young  a 
taste  for  historical  studies,  and  to  promote  in 
all  its  readers  a  generous  and  enlightened  in- 
terest in  the  cause  of  freedom,  humanity,  and 
religion. 

A.  POTTER. 

Union  College,  August,  1843. 


CONTENTS. 


AUTHOR'S  PREFACE •  Page  xxi 

INTRODUCTION xxiii 

PRINCIPAL  CHARACTERISTICS  OF  MODERN  HISTORY    ...     25 

FIRST  PERIOD. 

FROM    THE    TAKING    OF   CONSTANTINOPLE    BY   THE    TURKS    TO    THE 
REFORMATION  OF  LUTHER,  1453-1517      .  .           .37 

CHAPTER  I. 

Italy— War  of  the  Turks,  1453-1494. 

Splendour  of  Italy  :  Venice,  Florence,  Rome,  <fec.,  <fcc. — Her  real  De- 
cline.— Condottieri.  Tyrannies,  and  Conspiracies. — Machiavelian  Poli- 
tics.—  Threatening  Conquest.  —  Turks,  Spaniards,  French. —  Taking 
of  Constantinople,  1453.  —  Attempt  of  John  of  Calabria  upon  the 
Kingdom  of  Naples,  1460-1464.  —  Diversions  of  the  Albanese  Scan- 
derbeg,  of  Hunniades,  and  of  Mathias  Corvin  in  Hungary. — Project 
of  the  Crusade,  which  fails  by  the  Death  of  Pius  II.,  1464.— Venice 
calls  upon  the  Turks.— Taking  of  Otranto,  1480.— The  Venitiaus  call 
upon  R6n6  of  Anjou. — The  Pope  calls  upon  the  Swiss. — Savanarola 
foretels  the  Conquest  of  Italy 39 

CHAPTER  II. 

The  West— France  and  the  Netherlands,  England  and  Scotland,  Spain 
and  Portugal,  in  the  second  half  of  the  15th  Century  .  .  51 
$  I.  FRANCE,  1452-1494. 

End  of  the  English  Wars. — Feudalism :  Houses  of  Burgundy,  Brittany, 
Anjou,  Albret  Foix,  Armagnac,  &c.,  <fec. — Grandeur  of  the  Duke  of 
Burgundy.— Advantages  of  the  King  of  France  :  First  perpetual  Tax, 
first  Standing  Army,  1444. — Death  of  Charles  VII. — Accession  of  Lou- 
is XL,  1461.— Death  of  Philip  the  Good,  Duke  of  Burgundy.— Accession 
of  Charles  the  Bold,  1467.— League  for  the  Public  Good.— Treaties  of 
Conflans  and  St.  Maur,  1465. — Conference  of  Peronne,  and  Captivity  of 
the  King,  1468. — Second  League  of  the  great  Vassals,  dissolved  by  the 
Death  of  the  Duke  of  Guienne,  Brother  of  Louis,  1472. — Invasion  of  Ed- 
ward IV. — Treaty  of  Pequigny,  1475. — Charles  the  Bold  turns  against 
Germany,  then  against  the  Swiss. — His  Defeats  at  Granson  and  at  Mo- 
rat,  1476.— His  Death,  1477.— Mary  of  Burgundy  marries  Maximilian  of 
Austria.— Louis  XL,  Master  of  Anjou,  of  Maine,  of  Provence,  of  Artois, 
and  of  Tranche  Comt6,  1481-82. — His  Death.  —Regency  of  Anne  of 
Beaujeu,  1483.— Pretensions  of  the  States,  1484.— Humiliation  of  the 
Grandees. — Charles  VIII.  prepares  for  the  Expedition  into  Italy  .  53 
$  II.  ENGLAND,  1454-1509.  SCOTLAND,  1452-1513. 

England:  Marriage  of  Henry  VI.  with  Margaret  of  Anjou. — Death  of 
Gloucester— Loss  of  the  French  Provinces.— Richard  of  York,  War- 


XVI  CONTENTS. 

wick.— Condemnation  of  the  Ministers. — Richard  Protector,  1455. — 
Battles  of  Northampton  and  Wakefield. — Death  of  Richard. — His  Son, 
Edward  IV.,  1461. — Defeat  of  the  Lancastrians  at  Towton,  and  at  Ex- 
ham,  1463.— Overthrow  of  Edward  IV.  at  Nottingham,  1470.— Battle 
of  Tewksbury.— Defeat  and  Death  of  Henry  VI.,  1471.— Death  of  Ed- 
ward IV.,  1463.— Richard  III.— Henry  Tudor.— Battle  of  Bosworth.— 
Henry  VII.,  1485. — Increase  of  the  regal  Power.— Scotland  :  Contest 
of  James  II.  against  the  Aristocracy. — His  Alliance  with  the  House  of 
Lancaster. — James  III.,  1460. — James  IV.,  1488. — Reconciliation  of 
the  King  and  the  Nobility.— Battle  of  Flodden.—  James  V.,  1513  P.  69 

$  III.  SPAIN  AND  PORTUGAL,  1454-1521. 

Henry  IV.,  King  of  Castile,  1454.— Revolt  of  the  Grandees  in  the  Name  of 
the  Infant. — Deposition  of  Henry. — Battle  of  Medina  del  Campo,  1465. 
— John  II.,  King  of  Aragon. — Revolt  of  Catalonia,  1462-72. — Marriage 
of  Ferdinand  of  Aragon  with  Isabella  of  Castile,  1469.— War  against 
the  Moors.— Taking  of  Grenada,  1481-92.— Ferdinand  and  Isabella  re- 
press the  Grandees  and  the  Cities,  relying  on  the  Aid  of  the  Inquisition, 
established  in  1480.— Expulsion  of  the  Jews,  1492.— Forced  Conver- 
sion of  the  Moors,  1499.— Death  of  Isabella,  1504. -Ministry  of  Xi- 
menes. — Conquest  of  Navarre,  1512. — Death  of  Ferdinand,  1516. — 
His  Successor,  Charles  of  Austria. — Revolt  of  Castile,  Murcia,  &c., 
&c.,  1516-1521 88 

CHAPTER  III. 

The  East  and  the  North — German  and  Scandinavian  States  in  the  second 
half  of  the  15th  Century. 

Empire  of  Germany. — Preponderance  and  interested  Policy  of  Austria. — 
The  Rise  of  Switzerland.— The  Decline  of  the  Teutonic  Order.— Cities 
of  the  Rhine,  and  of  Swabia. — Preponderance  and  Decline  of  the  Han- 
seatic  League.— Rise  of  Holland. — Wars  of  Denmark,  Sweden,  and 
Norway.— Freedom  of  Sweden,  1433-1520 110 

CHAPTER  IV. 

East  and  North — Slavonic  States  and  Turkey,  in  the  second  half  of  the 
15th  Century. 

Progress  of  the  Turks,  1411-1582.— Podiebrad,  King  of  Bohemia.— Ma- 
thias  Corvin,  King  of  Hungary,  1458. — Wladislas,  of  Poland,  reunites 
Hungary  and  Bohemia. —  Poland  under  the  Jagellons,  1386-1506. — 
Contest  of  Russia  with  the  Tartars,  the  Lithuanians,  and  the  Livoni- 
ans,  1462-1505 122 

CHAPTER  V. 
Wars  of  Italy,  1494-1516. 

Louis  the  Moor  calls  for  the  Aid  of  the  French. — Charles  VIII.  invades 
Italy.— League  against  the  French.— Battle  of  Formosa,  1495.— Louis 
XII.  invades  Milan,  1499.— War  with  the  Spaniards  of  Naples.— De- 
feat of  the  French  at  Garigliano,  1503.— Alexander  VI.  and  Caesar 
Borgia.— Julius  II.— Revolt  of  Genoa  against  Louis  XII.,  1507.— Italy, 
the  Empire,  France,  Hungary,  conspire  against  Venice. — Holy  League 
against  France,  1511-12 — Victories  and  Death  of  Gaston  de  Foix. — 
Bad  Success  of  Louis  XII.,  1512-14.— Francis  I.  invades  Milan.— Bat- 
tle of  Marignan,  1515.— Treaty  of  Noyon,  1516  ,  .  .  .  131 


CONTENTS.  XVU 


SECOND  PERIOD. 

FROM  THE   REFORMATION    TO   THE    TREATY  OF  WESTPHALIA,  1517- 
164S Page  149 

INTRODUCTION 151 

CHAPTER  VI. 
Leo  X.,  Francis  /.,  and  Charles  V. 

Francis  I.,  1515.— Charles  V.,  Emperor,  1519.— First  Wnr  against 
Charles  V.,  1521.— Disaffection  of  the  Duke  of  Bourbon,  1523.— Bat- 
tle of  Pavia,  1525.— Captivity  of  Francis  I.— Treaty  of  Madrid,  1526. 
—Second  War,  1527.— Peace  of  Cambray,  1529.— Public  Alliance  of 
Francis  I.  with  Solyman,  1534.— Third  War,  1535.— Truce  of  Nice, 
1538.— Renewal  of  Hostilities,  1541.— Battle  of  Cerisoles,  1544.— 
Treaty  of  Crepy.— Death  of  Francis  I.  and  Henry  VIII.,  1547.— In- 
ternal Situation  of  France  and  Spain. — Reformation. — First  Persecu- 
tions, 1535.— Massacre  of  the  Vaudois,  1545  .  .  .  .153 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Luther— Reformation  in  Germany— War  of  the  Turks,  1517-1555. 
Luther  attacks  the  Sale  of  Indulgences,  1517.— He  burns  the  Pope's  Bull, 
1520.— Diet  of  Worms,  1521.— Secularization  of  Prussia,  1525.  — 
War  of  the  Peasants  of  Swabia,  1524-5.— Anabaptists.— Catholic 
League,  1524.— Protestant  League,  1526.— War  of  the  Turks.— So- 
lyman, 1521.— Invasion  of  Hungary,  1526.— Siege  of  Vienna,  1529.— 
Diet  of  Spire,  1529. — Confession  of  Augsburg,  1530. — League  of 
Smallkalde,  1531.— Revolt  of  the  Anabaptists  of  Westphalia,  1534.— 
Troubles  and  internal  Wars  of  Germany,  1534-46.— Council  of  Trent, 
1545. — War  of  Charles  V.  against  the  Protestants. — Battle  of  Muhlberg, 
1547. — Revolt  of  Maurice  of  Saxony,  1551. — Peace  of  Augsburg, 

1555.— Death  of  Charles  V.,  1558 179 

$  I.  ORIGIN  OF  THE  REFORMATION     .       .       .181 
$  II.  FIRST  STRUGGLE  AGAINST  THE  REFORMATION       .  191 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
Reformation  in  England  and  in  the  North  of  Europe,  1521-1547. 

t)  I.  ENGLAND  AND  SCOTLAND,  1527-1547. 

Divorce  of  Henry  VIIL— England  separates  herself  from  the  Roman 
Church,  March  30th,  1534  —Pilgrimage  of  Grace.— Persecution  of 
Catholics  and  Protestants,  1540.— Attempts  on  Scotland,  1542.— Sub- 
mission and  administrative  Organization  of  Wales  and  Ireland  .  205 

$  II.  DENMARK,  SWEDEN,  AND  NORWAY,  1513-1560. 
Christian  II.  turns  the  Danish  Nobility  against  him,  Sweden,  1520  ;  the 
Hanse  Towns,  1517. — Gustavus  Vasa. — Insurrection  of  Dalecarlia. — 
Christian  II.  replaced  in  Sweden  by  Gustavus  Vasa,  1523  ;  in  Den- 
mark and  Norway  by  Frederic  of  Holstein,  1525. — Independence  of 
the  Danish  Church,  1527;  of  the  Swedish  Church,  1529.— Death  of 
Frederic  I.— Civil  War,  1533.— Christian  III.  abolishes  the  Catholic 
Worship,  1536,  and  incorporates  Norway  with  Denmark,  1537  .  213 

B  2 


XV111  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Calvin— Reformation  in  France.  England,  Scotland,  the  Netherlands,  t« 
St.  Bartholomew,  1555-1572. 

Calvin  at  Geneva,  1535.— Calvinism  enters  France,  the  Netherlands, 
England,  and  Scotland. — Opposition  of  Philip  II.— His  Marriage  with 
Mary,  Queen  of  England,  1555. — Peace  between  the  King  of  Spain 
and  Henry  II.,  King  of  France,  1559.— Establishment  of  the  Inqui- 
sition, 1561.  — Marriage  of  Mary  Stuart  with  Francis  II.,  1560.— 
Struggle  between  England  and  Scotland,  1559-1567. — Accession  of 
Charles  IX.,  1561. -Massacre  of  the  Vassi.— Civil  War,  1562.— Peace 
of  Amboise,  1563  ;  of  Longjumeau,  1568. — Battles  of  Jarnac  and  Mont- 
contour,  1569. — Persecutions  in  the  Netherlands. — Council  of  Troub- 
les, 1567.— Revolt  of  the  Moora  of  Spain,  1571.— St.  Bartholomew, 
1572 Page  221 

CHAPTER  X. 

Farther  Events  to  the  Death  of  Henry  IV.,  1572-1610—  Glance  at  the  Sit- 
uation of  the  Belligerant  Powers  after  the  Religious  Wars. 

1)  I.  DEATH  OF  CHARLES  IX.,  1574. 

Insurrection  of  the  Netherlands,  1572. — Union  of  Utrecht,  1579. — For- 
mation of  the  League  in  France,  1577. — Power  of  the  Guises. — Battle 
of  Coutras,  1587. — Barricades. — States  of  Blois,  1588. — Assassination  of 
Henry  III. — Accession  of  Henry  IV. — Death  of  Mary  Stuart,  1587. — Ar- 
mament and  bad  Success  of  Philip  II.,  1588. — Grandeur  of  Elizab<«^i 

242 

$  II.  To  THE  DEATH  or  HENRY  IV.,  AND  A  GLANCE  AT  THE  BELLI- 
GERANT POWERS. 

Mayence.— Combat  of  Arques.— Battle  of  Ivri,  1590.— States  of  Paris, 
1593.— Abjuration  and  Absolution  of  Henry  IV.,  1593-1595.— Edict  of 
Nantes. — Peace  ofVervins,  1598. — Weakness  of  Spain  ;  Expulsion  of 
the  Moors  from  Valencia,  1609. — Administration  of  Henry  IV.— Afflu- 
ence of  France. — Assassination  of  Henry  IV.,  1610  .  .  .254 

CHAPTER  XI. 

Revolution  of  England,  1603-1649. 

James  I.,  1603.— Charles  I.,  1625.— War  against  France,  1627.  —  The 
King  tries  to  govern  without  a  Parliament,  1630-1638.— Trial  of  Hamp- 
den,  1636.—  Covenant  of  Scotland,  1638.—  Long  Parliament,  1640.— 
Commencement  of  the  Civil  War,  1642. — Covenant  of  England  and 
Scotland,  1643. — Success  of  the  Parliamentaries. — The  Power  passes 
to  the  Independents. — Cromwell. — The  King  gives  himself  up  to  the 
Scots,  who  betray  him,  1645. — Revolt  and  Predominance  of  the  Army. 
—  Trial  and  Execution  of  Charles  I.  —  Abolition  of  the  Monarchy, 
1649 266 

CHAPTER  XII. 

The  Thirty  Years1  War,  1618-1648. 

Maximilian  II.,  1564-1576— Rodolph  II.,  1576-1612.— Mathi as,  Emperor, 
1612-1619. — Insurrection  of  Bohemia. — Commencement  of  the  Thirty 
Years'  War.— PALATINE  PERIOD,  1619-1623:  Ferdinand  II.— War 
against  the  Protestants.— Bohemia,  the  Palatinate. — Triumph  of  Ferdi- 
nand.—DANISH  PERIOD,  1625-1629:  League  of  the  States  of  Lower 


CONTENTS.  XIX 

Saxony. — Success  of  Tilly  and  Waldstein. — Intervention  of  Denmark 
and  Sweden. — SWEDISH  PEEIOD,  1630-1635  :  Gustavus  Adolphus  in- 
vades the  Empire. — Battle  of  Leipzig,  1631. — Invasion  of  Bavaria. — 
Battle  of  Lutzen. — Death  of  Gustavus  Adolphus,  1632.— Assassination 
of  Waldstein,  1634.— Peace  of  Prague,  1635.— FRENCH  PERIOD,  1635- 
1648:  Ministry  of  Richelieu,  &c.,  &c.— Battle  of  the  Dunes,  1640.— 
Battle  of  Leipzig,  1642  ;  of  Friburg,  Norlingen,  Sens,  1644, 1645, 1648, 
&c.,  &c.— Treaty  of  Westphalia,  1648  ....  Page  280 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

The  East  and  the  North  in  the  15th  Century. 

f)  I.  TURKEY,  HUNGARY,  1566-1648    .        .       .294 

$  II.  POLAND,  PRUSSIA,  RUSSIA,  1505-1648        .        .  297 

$  III.  DENMARK  AND  SWEDEN        .       .       .302 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

Discoveries  and  Colonies  of  the  Moderns — Discoveries  and  Establishments 
of  the  Portuguese  in  both  Indies,  1412-1582. 

$  I.  DISCOVERIES  AND  COLONIES  OF  THE  MODERNS  .  304 
t)  II.  DISCOVERIES  AND  ESTABLISHMENTS  OF  THE  PORTUGUESE. 
The  Infant  Don  Henry  encourages  the  Navigators. — Discovery  of  Ma- 
deira, the  Azores,  Congo,  1412-1484  ;  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  1486. 
—Voyage  of  Vasco  de  Gama,  1497-1498.— Discovery  of  Brazil,  1500.— 
Almeida  and  Albuquerque,  1505-1515.— Submission  of  Ceylon,  1518. 
—First  Connexions  with  China  and  Japan,  1517-1542.— Decay  of  the 
Portuguese  Colonies.— Ata'ide  and  John  of  Castro,  1545-1572. — Sov- 
ereignty of  the  Spanish,  1582  305 

CHAPTER  XV. 

Discovery  of  America— Conquests  and  Establishments  of  the  Spaniards 
in  the  15th  and  16th  Centuries. 

Christopher  Columbus. — Discovery  of  America,  October  12th,  1492. — 
Second  Voyage,  1493.— Third,  1498.— Discovery  of  the  South  Sea,  1513. 
— Cortez,  Conquest  of  Mexico,  1518-1521.— Pizarro,  Conquest  of  Peru, 
1524-1533.— Discoveries  and  various  Establishments,  1540-1567  .  313 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

Literature,  Arts,  and  Sciences  in  the  16th  Century— Leo  X.  and  Fran- 
cis I.     .      .       :      .       .       .  33i 
f)  I.  LITERATURE  AND  ARTS   ....  332 
6  II.  PHILOSOPHY  AND  SCIENCES      .       .       .335 

CHAPTER  XVII. 
Troubles  at  the  Commencement  of  the  Reign  of  Louis  XIIL—Ricftelieu, 

1610-1643. 

Louis  XIII.— Regency,  Concini,  Luynes,  1610-1620.— Richelieu.— Siege 
of  Rochelle,  1627.— War  of  Thirty  Years.— Richelieu  supports  the 
Swedes. —  War  against  Spain,  1636.  —  Conspiracy  of  Cinq  Mars.  — 
Death  of  Richelieu,  and  of  Louis  XIII.,  1642-1643  .  .  .336 


XX  CONTENTS. 


THIRD  PERIOD. 

PROM  THE  TREATY  OF  WESTPHALIA  TO  THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION, 

1648-1789         ....  Page  351 
PART  I.— 1648-1715. 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Troubles  under  Mazarin—Rise  of  Colbert— Louis  XIV.,  1643-1661. 
Administration  of  Mazarin.— Battle  of  Rocroi,  1643.— Victories  of  Cond6. 
—Treaty  of  Westphalia,  1648.-The  Fronde,  1648-53.— Treaty  of  the 
Pyrenees,  1659. — Louis  XIV.  governs  by  himself,  1661. — Administra- 
tion of  Colbert 353 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

Continuation  of  the  Reign  of  Louis  XIV.,  1661-1715. 
War  of  Spain.— Conquest  of  Flanders  and  Tranche  Comte.— Triple  Al- 
liance against  France.— Treaty  of  Aix-la-Chapelle,  1667-1668.— Inva- 
sion of  the  united  Provinces,  1672. — League  against  France,  1673-75. 
—  Victories  and  Death  of  Turenne,  1674-75. —  Peace  of  Nimeguen, 
1678.— Revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  1685.— Louis  XIV.  declares 
War  against  almost  the  whole  of  Europe,  1686. — War  for  the  Succes- 
sion of  England,  1688. — Luxembourg  and  Catinat. — Peace  of  Ryswick, 
1698.— War  for  the  Succession  of  Spain,  1698-1713.— League  of  Eu- 
rope against  France,  1701. — Victories  of  the  Confederates.— Peace  of 
Utrecht  and  Rastadt,  1712-13.— Death  of  Louis  XIV.,  1715  .  .367 

CHAPTER  XX. 

Literature,  Sciences,  and  Arts  in  the  Century  of  Louis  XV. 

t)  I.  FRANCE 397 

$  II.  ENGLAND,  HOLLAND,  GERMANY,  ITALY,  SPAIN       .  403 

PART  II.— 1715-1789. 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

Dissolution  of  the  Monarchy,  1715-1789. 

Louis  XV. — Regency  of  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  1715. — Ministry  of  Bour- 
bon, 1723  ;  of  Fleury,  1726-1745.— War  for  the  Succession  of  Austria, 
1740. — Reverses  of  the  French. — Victories  of  Fontenoi  and  Raucoux, 
1745-46.— Peace  of  Aix-la-Chapelle,  1748.— Seven  Years'  War,  1756. 
—Family  Covenant,  1761.— Abolition  of  the  Jesuits,  1764  ;  and  of  the 
Parliament,  1771.— Louis  XVI.,  1774.— Turgot.— Neckar.— Calonne. 
Assembly  of  the  Notables,  1787.— States-General,  1789  .  .  408 


UBI7-B&SIT 


AUTHOR'S  PREFACE. 


IN  composing  an  abridgment,  we  ought  par- 
ticularly to  consider  for  whom  it  is  written. 
The  present  summary  is  addressed  to  the 
youthful  public  of  our  schools  and  colleges : 
it  is  intended  to  be  committed  to  memory,  and 
to  serve  as  a  text-book  for  the  lessons  of  the 
professors. 

If,  however,  it  should  fall  into  the  hands  of 
that  part  of  the  public  for  whom  we  do  not 
write,  we  think  they  should  be  previously  ap- 
prized of  the  object  and  form  of  our  Summary, 
lest  they  should  seek  therein  for  that  which 
does  not  appertain  to  it. 

First,  we  have  laid  more  stress  upon  the 
history  of  political  events  than  upon  the  his- 
tory of  religion,  institutions,  commerce,  letters, 
or  the  arts.  We  are  not  ignorant  that  the 
second  is  still  more  important  than  the  first ; 
but  it  is  with  the  study  of  the  first  that  we 
commence. 

Facts  and  dates  do  not  often  occur  in  this 
little  book  ;  it  is  an  abridgment,  and  not  a 
chronological  table  like  those  we  have  pub- 
lished. The  "  Chronological  and  Synchrono- 
logical  Tables"*  were  a  sort  of  storehouse 

*  See  Handbook  for  Readers  for  a  notice  of  these  tables. 


XX11  PREFACE. 

where  a  date  might  be  looked  for,  and  facts 
brought  together  and  compared.  In  this  sum- 
mary our  purpose  was  quite  different :  to  leave, 
if  possible,  in  the  memory  of  pupils  who  should 
learn  it  by  heart,  a  lasting  impression  of  Mod- 
ern History. 

To  attain  this  end,  it  would  be  necessary 
first  to  mark,  in  a  comprehensive  and  simple 
division,  the  dramatic  unity  of  the  history  of 
the  last  three  centuries  ;  afterward,  to  repre- 
sent all  the  intermediate  ideas,  not  by  abstract 
expressions,  but  by  characteristic  facts,  which 
should  strike  the  imagination  of  youth.  Few 
of  these  would  be  required,  but  they  should  be 
well  selected,  in  order  to  serve  as  symbols  for 
all  others,  so  that  the  same  facts  would  pre- 
sent to  the  child  a  succession  of  images — to 
the  man,  a  chain  of  ideas.  We  speak  of  what 
we  wished  to  do,  not  of  what  we  have  done. 

The  history  of  the  nations  of  the  north  and 
east  of  Europe  occupies  comparatively  little 
space  in  this  abridgment.  The  narrow  limits 
within  which  we  were  obliged  to  confine  our- 
selves did  not  permit  us  to  give  to  it  the  same 
development  as  to  the  history  of  those  nations 
who  have  advanced  at  the  head  of  European 
civilization. 


INTRODUCTION. 


IN  the  ancient  history  of  Europe,  two  pre- 
dominant nations  occupy  the  scene  in  turns  ; 
there  is,  generally,  unity  of  action  and  of  inter-'' 
est.  This  unity,  less  apparent  in  the  Middle 
Ages,  reappears  in  Modern  History,  and  is 
principally  manifest  in  the  revolutions  of  the 
System  of  Equilibrium. 

The  History  of  the  Middle  Ages  and  Mod- 
ern History  cannot  be  accurately  divided.  If 
we  consider  the  History  of  the  Middle  Ages 
as  terminating  with  the  last  invasion  of  the 
barbarians  (that  of  the  Ottoman  Turks),  Mod- 
ern History  will  comprehend  three  centuries 
and  a  half,  from  the  taking  of  Constantinople 
by  the  Turks  to  the  French  Revolution,  1453- 
1789. 

Modern  History  may  be  divided  into  three 
periods  :  I.  From  the  taking  of  Constantino- 
ple to  the  Reformation  of  Luther,  1453-1517. 
II.  From  the  Reformation  to  the  Treaty  of 
Westphalia,  1517-1648.  III.  From  the  Trea- 
ty of  Westphalia  to  the  French  Revolution, 
1648-1789.  The  System  of  Equilibrium  (Bal- 
ance of  Power),  prepared  in  the  first  period,  is* 
formed  in  the  second,  and  is  maintained  in  the 
third.  The  last  two  periods  subdivide  them- 
selves into  five  ages  of  the  System  of  Equilibri- 
um, 1517-1559,  1559-1603,  1603-1648,  1648- 
1715,  1715-1789. 


PRINCIPAL  CHARACTERISTICS 
OF  MODERN  HISTORY. 

1st.  The  great  states,  which  are  formed  by  the 
successive  union  of  fiefs,  tend  afterward  to  absorb 
the  small  states,  either  by  conquest  or  by  marriage. 
The  republics  are  absorbed  by  the  monarchies, 
the  elective  by  the  hereditary  states.  Their  ten- 
dency to  absolute  unity  is  arrested  by  the  System 
of  Equilibrium  (Balance  of  Power).  The  mar- 
riages of  sovereigns  among  themselves  bring  into 
Europe  the  connexions  and  rivalries  of  a  family. 

2d.  Europe  lends  to  subject  and  civilize  the  rest 
of  the  world.  The  colonial  power  of  the  Europe- 
ans only  begins  to  be  shaken  towards  the  end  of 
the  eighteenth  century  —  importance  of  the  great 
maritime  powers  —  commercial  communications  be- 
tween all  parts  of  the  globe  (hitherto  nations  had 
communicated  more  frequently  by  war  than  by 
commerce).  Politics,  which  in  the  Middle  Agesr 
and  till  the  end  of  the  16th  century,  had  been  gov- 
erned by  religious  interests,  are  more  and  more 
influenced  among  the  moderns  by  the  extension  of 
commerce. 

3d.    Difference    between    the    Southern    nations 
(whose  languages    and  civilization   are  of  Latin 
origin)  and  the  Northern  (whose  civilization  and 
C 


26  PRINCIPAL    CHARACTERISTICS    OF 

languages  are  Germanic).  The  Western  people 
of  Europe  develope  civilization  and  carry  it  to  the 
most  distant  nations.  The  Eastern  people  (prin- 
cipally of  Slavonic  origin)  are  long  engaged  in 
shutting  Europe  against  the  barbarians  ;  their  prog- 
ress also  in  the  arts  of  peace  is  slower.  It  is  the 
same  with  the  Scandinavian  nations,  who  are  situ- 
ated farthest  from  the  centre  of  activity  in  the  sys- 
tem of  European  civilization. 

FIRST  PERIOD. 

From  the  taking  of  Constantinople  by  the  Turks  to 
the  Reformation  of  Luther,  1453-1517. 

This  period,  common  to  the  middle  and  modern 
ages,  has  fewer  striking  characteristics  than  the 
two  following :  the  events  in  it  present  an  interest 
less  simple,  and  a  combination  less  easy  to  seize. 
History  is  still  occupied  with  the  internal  working 
of  each  state,  which  tends  to  imbody  itself  before 
it  is  connected  with  the  neighbouring  nations. 
The  first  essays  at  a  system  of  equilibrium  (bal- 
ance of  power)  date  from  the  end  of  this  period. 

The  nations,  already  civilized  in  the  Middle 
Ages,  must  be  subdued  by  those  who  have  pre- 
served the  exclusively  military  spirit  of  barbarous 
times.  The  inhabitants  of  Provence  and  Langue- 
doc  were  thus  overcome  by  the  French ;  the  Moors 


MODERN    HISTORY.  27 

by  the  Spaniards ;  the  Greeks  by  the  Turks ;  the 
Italians  by  the  Spaniards,  the  French,  and  the 
Germans. 

Internal  Condition  of  the  principal  States. 

The  nations  of  Germanic  and  of  Slavonic  origin. — 
Among  the  first  alpne,  subject  to  a  feudal  system 
properly  so  called,  a  free  citizenship,  favoured  by 
the  progress  of  wealth  and  industry,  is  established ; 
it  supports  the  kings  against  the  nobles. 

In  the  middle  of  the  15th  century,  the  feudal 
system  has  triumphed  in  the  Empire  ;  it  has  hum- 
bled the  kings  in  Castile ;  it  has  prolonged  its  in- 
dependence in  Portugal,  which  was  occupied  with 
wars,  and  with  the  discoveries  in  Africa ;  also  in 
the  three  kingdoms  of  the  North,  which  had  been 
in  a  state  of  anarchy  since  the  Union  of  Calmar ; 
in  England,  with  the  aid  of  the  wars  of  the  Roses, 
and  at  Naples,  amid  the  quarrels  of  the  houses 
of  Aragon  and  Anjou.  But  in  Scotland  the  kings 
already  assail  it;  in  France,  Charles  VII.,  con- 
queror of  the  English,  prepares  for  its  downfall  by 
his  institutions,  and  before  the  end  of  the  century, 
the  reigns  of  Ferdinand  the  Catholic  and  Ferdi- 
nand the  Bastard,  of  John  II.  of  Portugal,  of  Henry 
VII.  and  Louis.  XL,  will  establish  the  regal  power 
upon  the  ruins  of  the  feudal  system. 

Three  states  detach  themselves  from  this  group. 


28  PRINCIPAL    CHARACTERISTICS    OF 

While  the  other  states  tend  towards  monarchical 
unity,  Italy  remains  dismembered.  The  power  of 
the  dukes  of  Burgundy  attains  its  summit,  and  falls 
into  ruin,  while  the  military  republic  of  the  Swiss 
is  increasing  in  strength. 

The  two  great  Slavonic  nations  present  a  con- 
trast, which  foreshadows  to  us  their  destiny.  Rus- 
sia becomes  one,  and  emerges  from  barbarism.  Po- 
land, though  she  thoroughly  modifies  her  constitu- 
tion, still  clings  to  the  anarchical  form  of  a  barba- 
rian government. 

Relations  of  the  principal  states  among  themselves. 

The  European  commonwealth  has  no  longer  that 
unity  of  movement  which  religion  gave  to  it  at  the 
era  of  the  Crusades ;  its  parts  are  not  yet  clearly 
separated,  as  they  will  be  by  the  Reformation.  It 
is  now  divided  into  several  groups,  whose  limits 
are  determined  by  the  geographical  position  of  the 
nations  as  much  as  by  their  political  relations  : 
England,  with  Scotland  and  France  ;  Aragon,  with 
Castile  and  Italy  ;  Italy  and  Germany,  with  all 
the  states  (directly  or  indirectly) ;  Turkey  unites 
itself  with  Hungary  ;  Hungary  with  Bohemia  and 
Austria  ;  Poland  is  the  common  bond  of  the  East 
and  of  the  North,  of  which  she  is  the  prepondera- 
ting power.  The  three  kingdoms  of  the  North  and 
Russia  form  two  separate  worlds. 


MODERN   HISTORY.  29 

The  Western  States,  for  the  most  part  filled  with 
internal  commotions,  are  relieved  from  foreign  wars. 
At  the  North,  Sweden,  subjected  during  sixty  years 
to  Denmark,  breaks  the  Union  of  Calmar ;  Russia 
emancipates  herself  from  the  Tartars ;  the  Teutonic 
order  becomes  a  vassal  of  Poland.  All  the  East- 
ern States  are  threatened  by  the  Turks,  who  have 
nothing  to  fear  from  behind  them  since  the  taking 
of  Constantinople,  and  who  are  only  stopped  by  the 
Hungarians.  The  emperor,  occupied  with  estab- 
lishing the  grandeur  of  his  house,  Germany  with 
repairing  the  evils  of  the  political  and  religious 
wars,  seemed  to  forget  the  danger. 

Detaching  the  history  of  the  North  and  East,  to 
follow  without  distraction  the  revolution  of  the 
Western  States,  we  see  England  and  Portugal,  but 
especially  Spain  and  France,  reach  an  imposing 
grandeur,  as  well  by  their  conquests  in  recently- 
discovered  countries,  as  by  the  concentration  of  all 
national  power  in  the  hands  of  the  kings.  It  is  in 
Italy  that  those  new  powers  are  to  unfold  them- 
selves by  an  obstinate  struggle.  It  is  necessary, 
then,  to  observe  how  Italy  was  opened  to  foreign 
nations,  before  she  fostered  the  infancy  of  that 
struggle,  of  which  she  is  to  be  the  theatre  in  this 
and  the  following  period.* 

*  The  limits  of  this  sketch  do  not  permit  us  to  cany  forward  the  his- 
tory of  civilization  in  even,  course  with  political  history.  We  shall  coa« 

C3 


30  PRINCIPAL    CHARACTERISTICS    OF 


SECOND  PERIOD. 

From  the  Reformation  to  the  Treaty  of  Westphalia) 
1517-1648. 

The  second  period  of  Modern  History  is  opened 
with  the  rivalry  of  Francis  I.,  Charles  V.,  and  Sol- 
yman :  it  is  most  eminently  characterized  by  the 
Reformation.  The  house  of  Austria,  whose  colos- 
sal power  could  alone  close  Europe  against  the 
Turks,  seems  to  have  defended  only  to  enslave  it. 
But  Charles  V.  encountered  a  triple  barrier.  Fran- 
cis I.  and  Solyman  withstand  the  emperor  from 
motives  of  private  ambition,  and  save  the  independ- 
ence of  Europe.  When  Francis  I.  is  exhausted, 
Solyman  seconds  him,  and  Charles  finds  a  new  ob- 
stacle in  the  league  of  the  Protestants  of  Germany. 
This  is  the  first  stage  or  era  of  the  Reformation,  and 

tent  ourselves  here  with  noticing-  its  points  of  departure  in  the  15th 
century. 

The  rise  of  the  spirit  of  invention  and  discovery.  In  literature,  the 
enthusiasm  of  learning  arrested  for  a  time  the  development  of  modern 
genius.  Invention  of  printing  (1436,  1452).  More  frequent  use  of  gun- 
.powder  and  of  the  compass.  Discoveries  by  the  Portuguese  and  Span- 
iards. Maritime  commerce,  centred  till  then  in  the  Baltic  (Hanseatic 
League)  and  in  the  Mediterranean  (Venice,  Genoa,  Florence,  Barcelona, 
Marseilles),  is  extended  to  every  sea  by  the  voyages  of  Columbus,  Gama, 
&c.,  and  passes  into  the  hands  of  the  Western  nations  towards  the  end 
of  this  period.  Commerce  by  land  ;  Lombard  merchants  ;  the  Low  Coun- 
tries, and  free  cities  of  Germany,  entrepots  of  the  North  and  South. 
Manufacturing  industry  of  the  same  nations,  especially  of  the  Low  Coun- 
tries. 


MODERN    HISTORY.  31 

of  the  System  of  Equilibrium  (Balance  of  Power), 
1517-1550. 

1550-1600.     Second  era  of  the  System  of  Equilib- 
rium^ and  of  the  Reformation. 

The  Reformation  has  already  spread  itself  in 
Europe,  and  particularly  in  France,  England,  Scot- 
land, and  the  Low  Countries.  Spain,  the  only 
Western  country  that  had  remained  closed  against  it, 
declared  herself  its  adversary.  Philip  II.  wishes 
to  bring  Europe  back  to  religious  unity,  and  to  ex- 
tend his  dominion  over  the  Western  nations.  Du- 
ring all  the  second  period,  and  especially  in  this 
age,  the  wars  are  at  once  foreign  and  domestic. 

1600-1648.     Third  era  of  the  System  of  Equilibri- 
um (Balance  of  Power),  and  of  the  Reformation. 

The  progress  of  the  Reformation  brings  about, 
at  length,  two  results,  simultaneous,  yet  independ- 
ent of  each  other  :  a  revolution,  whose  catastrophe 
is  a  civil  war,  and  a  war,  which  presents  to  Eu- 
rope the  characteristics  of  a  revolution,  or,  rather, 
of  a  European  civil  war.  In  England,  the  victori- 
ous Reformation  becomes  divided  within  itself,  and 
its  partisans  are  arrayed  against  each  other.  In 
Germany,  it  draws  all  the  people  into  the  vortex  of 
war  for  thirty  years.  From  this  chaos  issues  the 


32  PRINCIPAL  CHARACTERISTICS   OF 

regular  system  of  equilibrium,  which  is  to  prevail 
during  the  following  period. 

The  Eastern  and  Northern  States  are  no  longer 
strangers  to  the  political  system  of  Western  Eu- 
rope, as  in  the  former  period.  In  the  first  age  or 
era,  Turkey  takes  her  place  in  the  balance  of  Eu- 
rope ;  in  the  third,  Sweden  interposes  still  more 
decidedly  in  the  affairs  of  the  West.  The  second 
era  brings  the  Slavonic  States,  through  Livonia,  in 
contact  with  the  Scandinavian  States,  to  which 
they  have  been  hitherto  strangers. 

At  the  commencement  of  this  period,  the  sover- 
eigns reunite  all  the  national  strength  in  their  own 
hands,  bestowing  internal  repose  and  foreign  con- 
quest on  the  people  in  compensation  for  their  priv- 
ileges. Commerce  is  widely  diffused,  notwith- 
standing the  system  of  monopoly  which  is  orga- 
nized at  the  same  epoch. 

THIRD  PERIOD. 

From  the  Treaty  of  Westphalia  to  the  French  Revo- 
lution, 1648-1789. 

In  this  period  the  moving  power  or  motive  is 
purely  political :  it  is  the  maintenance  of  the  System 
of  Equilibrium  (Balance  of  Power).  It  is  divided 
into  two  parts,  of  about  seventy  years  each :  before 
the  death  of  Louis  XIV.,  1648-1715;  after  the 
death  of  Louis  XIV.,  1715—1789. 


MODERN    HISTORY.  33 

I.  1648-1715.     Fourth  age  or  era  of  the  System 
of  Equilibrium. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  third  period,  as  at 
that  of  the  second,  the  independence  of  Europe  is 
in  danger.  France  occupies  the  political  rank 
which  Spain  held,  and  exercises,  in  a  greater  de- 
gree, the  influence  of  a  superior  civilization. 

As  long  as  Louis  XIV.  had  for  adversaries  only 
Spain,  already  exhausted,  Holland,  an  exclusively 
maritime  power,  and  the  Empire,  divided  by  its  ne- 
gotiations, he  dictated  laws  to  Europe.  England, 
at  last,  under  a  second  William  of  Orange,  resumes 
the  part  which  she  had  played  from  the  time  of 
Elizabeth,  that  of  principal  antagonist  to  the  pre- 
ponderating power.  In  concert  with  Holland,  she 
annihilated  the  pretensions  of  France  to  the  sover- 
eignty of  the  seas.  In  concert  with  Austria,  she 
confines  her  within  her  natural  limits,  but  cannot 
prevent  her  establishing  a  branch  of  the  house  of 
Bourbon  in  Spain. 

Sweden  is  the  first  Northern  power.  Under  two 
conquerors,  she  twice  changed  the  aspect  of  the 
North,  but  she  is  too  weak  to  obtain  a  lasting  su- 
premacy. Russia  arrests  her,  assumes  this  suprem- 
acy, and  retains  it.  The  system  of  the  North  has 
little  connexion  with  that  of  the  Southern  States  of 
Europe,  except  by  the  old  alliance  of  Sweden  with 
France. 


34  PRINCIPAL    CHARACTERISTICS    OF 

II.  1715-1789.     Fifth  era  or  age  of  the  System 
of  Equilibrium  (Balance  of  Power). 

The  establishing  of  the  new  kingdoms  of  Russia 
and  Sardinia  mark  the  first  years  of  the  eigh- 
teenth century.  Prussia  is  to  be,  with  England,  the 
arbiter  of  Europe,  while  France  is  weakened,  and 
Russia  does  not  yet  attain  her  full  strength. 

During  the  eighteenth  century  there  is  less  dis- 
proportion between  the  powers.  The  prepondera- 
ting nation  being  insular,  and  essentially  maritime, 
has  no  interest  in  relation  to  the  Continent  other 
than  to  maintain  the  balance  of  power.  This  pol- 
icy she  pursues  in  the  three  Continental  wars  be- 
tween the  Western  States.  Austria,  mistress  of  the 
greatest  part  of  Italy,  might  have  seized  the  balance 
of  power ;  England,  her  ally,  permits  her  to  be  de- 
spoiled of  Naples,  which  becomes  an  independent 
kingdom  ;  France  wishes  to  annihilate  Austria ; 
England  saves  the  existence  of  Austria,  but  does 
not  prevent  Russia  from  weakening  her,  and  becom- 
ing her  rival.  Austria  and  France  wish  to  anni- 
hilate Prussia ;  England  relieves  her,  as  she  had 
before  relieved  Austria — directly,  with  her  subsi- 
dies, and  indirectly,  by  her  naval  warfare  against 
France. 

On  the  ocean  and  in  the  colonies,  the  balance  of 
power  is  broken  by  England.  The  colonial  wars, 


MODERN    HISTORY.  35 

which  form  one  of  the  characteristics  of  this  cen- 
tury, give  her  an  opportunity  to  ruin  the  naval  pow- 
er both  of  France  and  Spain,  and  to  assume  a 
vexatious  jurisdiction  over  neutrals.  A  most  unex- 
pected revolution  shakes  this  colossal  power.  The 
most  important  colonies  of  England  escape  from 
her.  yoke,  but  she  boldly  faces  all  her  enemies, 
lays  the  foundation  of  an  empire  in  the  East,  as 
vast  as  that  which  she  loses  in  the  West,  and  re- 
mains mistress  of  the  seas. 

Russia  grows  as  well  by  internal  development 
as  by  the  anarchy  of  her  neighbours.  For  a  long 
time  she  harasses  Sweden,  plunders  Turkey,  ab- 
sorbs Poland,  and  advances  herself  in  Europe. 
The  system  of  the  Northern  States  is  mingled  more 
and  more  with  that  of  the  States  of  the  South  and 
West.  The  revolutions  and  bloody  wars  which  are 
about  to  break  forth  at  the  end  of  the  fourth  period, 
will  blend  into  one  single  system  all  the  European 
States. 


FIRST   PERIOD. 
1453-1517, 

D 


SUMMARY 


MODERN    HISTORY. 


CHAPTER  I. 

ITALY — WAR    OF    THE    TURKS,  1453-1494. 

Splendour  of  Italy  :  Venice,  Florence,  Rome,  &c.,  &c. — Her  real  Le- 
cline. — Condottieri.  Tyrannies,  and  Conspiracies.— Machiavellian  Poli- 
tics.—  Threatening  Conquest.  —  Turks,  Spaniards,  French. —  Taking 
of  Constantinople,  1453.  —  Attempt  of  John  of  Calabria  upon  the 
Kingdom  of  Naples,  1460-1464.  —  Diversions  of  the  Albanese  Scan- 
derbeg,  of  Hunniades,  and  of  Matthias  Corvin  in  Hungary. — Project 
of  the  Crusade,  which  fails  by  the  Death  of  Pius  II.,  1464.— Venice 
calls  upon  the  Turks.— Taking  of  Otranto,  1480.— The  Venitians  call 
upon  R6n6  of  Anjou. — The  Pope  calls  upon  the  Swiss. — Savonarola 
fortells  the  Conquest  of  Italy. 


0 


Italy — Venice. — In  the  midst  of  a  feudal  barbar- 
ism, of  which  the  fifteenth  century  still  bore  the 
traces,  Italy  exhibited  the  spectacle  of  an  old  civ- 
ilization. She  impressed  strangers  by  the  ven- 
erable authority  of  religion,  and  by  all  the  pomp 
of  opulence  and  of  the  arts.  The  Frenchman  or 
German  who  crossed  the  Alps,  admired  in  Lom- 
bardy  that  skilful  agriculture,  and  those  innumer- 
able canals,  which  make  the  valley  of  the  Po  one 


40  SUMMARY    OF 

vast  garden.  He  beheld  with  astonishment,  rising 
out  of  the  lagoons  of  the  Adriatic,  the  wonderful 
Venice,  with  her  palaces  of  marble,  and  her  arse- 
nal, which,  it  was  said,  employed  fifty  thousand 
men.  From  her  ports  three  or  four  thousand  ves- 
sels sailed  every  year,  some  for  Oran,  Cadiz,  and 
Burges  ;  others  for  Egypt  or  Constantinople.  The 
mistress,  Venice,  as  she  called  herself,  ruled  by 
her  proveditors  in  almost  every  port,  from  the 
extremity  of  the  Adriatic  to  that  of  the  Black  Sea 
Florence  —  Rome.  —  Farther  off  was  ingenious 
Florence,  secure  (under  the  Comos  and  Lorerizos) 
that  she  would  forever  be  a  republic.  At  once 
princes,  citizens,  merchants,  and  men  of  letters,  the 
Medicis  received  by  the  same  vessels  the  tissues 
of  Alexandria,  and  the  manuscripts  of  Greece. 
At  the  same  time  that  they  revived  Platonism  by 
the  labours  of  Ficino,  they  erected,  by  the  aid  of 
Brunelieschi,  the  cupola  of  St.  Mary,  facing  which 
Michael  Angelo  wished  his  tomb  to  be  placed. 
The  same  enthusiasm  for  letters  and  the  arts  ex- 
isted at  the  courts  of  Milan,  Ferrara,  Mantua,  Ur- 
bino,  and  Bologna.  The  Spanish  conqueror  of 
the  kingdom  of  Naples  imitated  Italian  taste ;  and 
for  making  a  treaty  of  peace  with  Cosmo  de  Medi- 
cis, he  only  demanded  a  handsome  manuscript  of 
Livy.  In  Rome  we  find  erudition  itself  seated  in 
the  chair  of  St.  Peter,  in  the  persons  of  Nicholas 


MODERN    HISTORY.  41 

Y.  and  Pius  II.  This  universal  culdvation  of  let- 
ters seemed  to  have  humanized  the  feelings.  In 
the  most  bloody  battle  of  the  fifteenth  century,  there 
were  not  a  thousand  men  killed.*  The  combats 
were  scarcely  more  than  tournaments. 

CondottierL  —  In  the  mean  time,  an  attentive 
observer  might  easily  see  signs  of  the  decline  of 
Italy.  The  apparent  gentleness  of  manners  was 
but  a  growing  enervation  of  national  character. 
The  wars,  from  being  bloodless,  were  only  of 
longer  duration,  and  more  ruinous.  The  Condot- 
tieri  traversed  Italy  in  undisciplined  troops,  always 
ready  to  join  the  opposite  standard  for  the  least  in- 
crease of  pay  ;  war  had  become  a  lucrative  game 
between  the  Piccinini  and  the  Sforza.  In  every 
place  there  were  little  tyrants,  extolled  by  the 
learned  and  detested  by  the  people.  Literature, 
to  which  Italy  herself  ascribed  her  glory,  had  lost 
the  originality  of  the  fourteenth  century  ;  to  Dante 
and  Petrarch  had  succeeded  Philelphus  and  Pon- 
tanus.  Nowhere  was  religion  less  regarded. 
Nepotism  afflicted  the  Church,  and  deprived  it  of 
the  respect  of  the  people.  The  usurper  of  the 
domains  of  the  Holy  See,  the  Condottieri  Sforza, 
dated  his  letters  e  Firmiano  nostro  invito  Petro  et 


Conspiracies.  —  The   expiring  genius   of  Italian 

*  Machiavelli,  Storie  Florentine,  i.,  vii.          t  Id.  Ibid.,  book  v. 

D2 


42  SUMMARY    OF 

liberty  still  made  fruitless  efforts  by  conspiracies. 
Porcaro,  who  believed  himself  the  subject  of 
Petrarch's  prophetic  verses,  attempted  to  re-establish 
a  republican  government  in  Rome.  At  Florence 
the  Pazzi,  and  at  Milan  the  young  Olgiati,  with 
two  others,  stabbed  both  Julian  de  Medicis  and 
Galeas  Sforza  in  a  church  (1476-1487).  The 
madmen  believed  that  the  liberty  of  their  degener- 
ated country  depended  on  the  life  of  one  man. 

Lorenzo  de  Medicis  —  Inquisitors  of  the  State, 
1454. — The  two  governments  of  Florence  and  of 
Venice  passed  for  the  wisest  of  Italy.  Lorenzo 
de  Medicis  caused  his  verses  to  be  sung  to  the 
Florentines,  conducted  in  person  through  the 
streets  of  the  city  pedantic  and  sumptuous  masquer- 
ades, and  yielded  himself  blindly  to  that  royal 
munificence  which  was  the  admiration  of  men  of 
letters  and  the  precursor  of  the  bankruptcy  of 
Florence.  At  Venice,  on  the  contrary,  the  coldest 
self-interest  seemed  the  only  law  of  the  govern- 
ment. There  were  no  favourites,  no  caprice,  and 
no  prodigality.  But  this  government  of  iron  sub- 
sisted only  to  contract  more  and  more  the  unity  of 
power.  The  tyranny  of  the  Ten  was  not  sufficient ; 
there  must  be  created  in  the  very  bosom  of  this 
council  Inquisitors  of  State  (1434).  This  dictator- 
ship made  the  affairs  of  the  Republic  successful 
abroad,  but  it  was  by  draining  the  sources  of  its  in- 


MODERN    HISTORY.  43 

ternal  prosperity.  From  1425  to  1453,  Venice  had 
enlarged  her  territory  by  four  provinces,  while  her 
revenues  were  diminished  more  than  one  hundred 
thousand  ducats.  In  vain  she  endeavoured  to  re- 
tain, by  sanguinary  measures,  the  resources  which 
were  escaping  from  her.*  The  time  was  not  far  dis- 
tant when  Italy  was  to  lose  at  once  her  commerce, 
her  riches,  and  her  independence.  There  was  only 
wanting  another  invasion  of  the  barbarians  to 
wrest  from  her  the  monopoly  of  commerce,  and 
of  those  arts  which  were  to  be  hereafter  the  patri- 
mony of  the  world. 

Turks  —  French  —  Spaniards. — Who  are  to  be 
the  conquerors  of  Italy  ?  the  Turks,  the  French, 
or  the  Spaniards  ?  This  is  what  no  foresight  may 
determine..  The  popes,  and  the  greater  part  of  the 
Italians,  dread'ed,  above  all,  the  Turks.  The  great 
Sforza,  and  Alphonso  the  Magnanimous,  thought 
only  of  closing  Italy  against  the  French,  who  laid 
claim  to  Naples,  and  might  demand  Milan. f  Ven- 
ice, believing  herself  invincible  in  her  lagoons,  ne- 
gotiated without  distinction  with  one  and  another, 
sacrificing  sometimes  to  secondary  interests  her 
honour  and  the  safety  of  Italy. 

*  If  we  may  believe  the  MS.  published  by  Mr.  Daru  (vol.  vii.),  as  con- 
taining the  statutes  of  the  Inquisitors  of  State,  these  inquisitors  caused 
the  mechanic  to  be  put  to  death  who  carried  to  another  country  and 
branch  of  industry  which  was  useful  to  the  commonwealth. 

t  Sismondi,  History  of  the  Italian  Republics,  p.  x.,  pg.  28. 


44  SUMMARY    OF 

Constantinople,  1453.  —  Such  was  the  situa- 
tion of  that  country  when  she  heard  the  last  cry 
of  distress  from  Constantinople  (1453).  Separa- 
ted already  from  Europe  by  the  Turks  and  by  her 
schism,  this  unhappy  city  saw  before  her  walls  an 
army  of  300,000  barbarians.  At  this  critical  mo- 
ment, the  Western  nations,  accustomed  to  the  com- 
plaints of  the  Greeks,  paid  little  attention  to  them. 
Charles  VII.  achieved  the  expulsion  of  the  Eng- 
lish from  France  ;  Hungary  was  disturbed ;  the 
phlegmatic  Ferdinand  III.  was  occupied  in  erect- 
ing Austria  into  an  archducby.  The  possessors 
of  Pera  and  Galata,*  the  Genoese  and  the  Veni- 
tians,  were  calculating  the  greatness  of  their  loss, 
instead  of  preventing  it.  Genoa  sent  four  vessels  ; 
Venice  deliberated  whether  she  should  renounce 
her  conquests  in  Italy,  to  preserve  her  colonies 
and  her  commerce.!  In  the  midst  of  this  fatal 
hesitation,  Italy  sees  the  fugitives  from  Constanti- 
nople landing  upon  all  her  shores.  Their  recitals 
filled  Europe  with  shame  and  terror ;  they  bewail- 
ed the  Church  of  St.  Sophia  changed  into  a 
mosque,  Constantinople  pillaged  and  deserted,  and 
more  than  sixty  thousand  Christians  dragged  into 
slavery;  they  described  the  prodigious  cannons 
of  Mohammed,  and  tbat  appalling  moment,  at  early 

?  Suburbs  of  Constantinople,  inhabited  by  the  Greeks,  Armenians,  &c. 
t  Daru,  Hist,  of  Venice,  part  ii.,  b.  xvi.,  and  "Pieces  Justificatives/' 
t.  viii. 


MODERN    HISTORY.  45 

snorn,  when  the  Greeks  beheld,  at  awakening,  the 
galleys  of  the  infidels  traversing  the  land,*  and 
descending  into  their  harbour. 

John  of  Calabria,  1460-1464.  —  Europe  -was 
roused  at  last.  Nicholas  V.  preached  the  Cru- 
sade ;  all  the  Italian  States  were  reconciled  at 
Lodi  (1454).  In  other  countries  multitudes  of 
men  took  the  cross.  At  Lille  the  Duke  of  Bur- 
gundy exhibited  at  a  banquet  a  picture  of  the 
desolate  Church,  and,  according  to  the  rites  of 
chivalry,  vowed  to  God,  the  Virgin,  the  ladies,  and 
*'  le  faisan"  that  he  would  fight  against  the  infidels. 
But  this  ardour  was  of  short  duration  ;  nine  days 
after  having  signed  the  treaty  of  Lodi,  the  Veni- 
tians  made  another  with  the  Turks ;  Charles  VII. 
would  not  permit  the  Crusade  to  be  preached  in 
France ;  the  Duke  of  Burgundy  remained  in  his 
dominions,  and  the  new  attempt  of  John  of  Cala- 
bria upon  the  kingdom  of  Naples  occupied  all  the 
attention  of  Italy. 

Scanderbeg. — The  true  and  only  champions  of 
Christianity  were  the  Hungarian  Hunniade  and  the 
Albanian  Scanderbeg.  The  latter,  whose  barba- 
rous heroism  recalls  fabulous  times,  struck  off,  it  is 

*  It  is  said  that  the  sultan  transported  his  fleet  in  one  night  to  the 
harbour  of  Constantinople,  by  sliding-  the  vessels  upon  planks  smoothed 
over  with  grease.— See  Cantimir  and  Saadud-din,  Histoire  Ottomans, 
MS.,  transl.  by  M.  Galland,  cited  by  M.  Daru,  Hist,  de  Venisi,  2d  edit., 
Piece*  Justificatives,  vol.  viii.,  p.  194-6. 


46  SUMMARY    OF 

said,  with  a  single  blow  the  head  of  a  wild  bull. 
He  was  seen,  like  Alexander,  whose  name  the 
Turks  applied  to  him,  to  leap  alone  within  the 
walls  of  a  besieged  city.  Ten  years  after  his 
death,  the  Turks  divided  his  bones  among  them, 
believing  that  they  would  become  invincible.  To 
this  day  the  name  of  Scanderbeg  is  chanted  in 
the  mountains  of  Epirus. 

Hunniades ,  1456 — Mathias  Corvin. — The  other 
Soldier  of  Jesus  Christ  (Hunniades),  the  white 
knight  of  Wallachia,  the  devil  of  the  Turks,  as  he 
was  also  called,*  arrested  their  progress,  while 
the  movements  of  Scanderbeg  forced  them  back- 
ward. At  the  time  the  Ottomans  attacked  Bel- 
grade, the  bulwark  of  Hungary,  Hunniades  passed 
through  the  army  of  the  infidels,  to  throw  himself 
into  that  city ;  he  repulsed  during  forty  days  the 
most  furious  assaults,  and  was  celebrated  as  the 
saviour  of  Christendom  (1456).  His  son,  Ma- 
thias Corvin,  whom  the  gratitude  of  the  Hungari- 
ans raised  to  the  throne,  opposed  his  garde  noire. 
the  first  regular  infantry  which  that  people  ever 
had,  to  the  janizaries  of  Mohammed  II.  The 

*  The  first  title  is  that  which  was  always  assumed  by  Scanderbeg ; 
the  second,  that  by  which  Hunniades  is  generally  designated  among  his 
contemporaries  (Comines,  vol.  vi.,  ch.  xiii.) ;  the  third  was  given  him  by 
the  Turks,  who  pronounced  his  name  to  their  children,  to  frighten  them 
•  (M.  de  Sacy,  in  the  "Biog.  Universelle,"  art.  Hunniade),  as  the  Sara- 
cens formerly  threatened  theirs  with  Richard  Creur  de  Lion 


MODERN    HISTORY.  47 

reign  of  Mathias  was  the  glory  of  Hungary. 
While  he  fought  successively  the  Turks,  the  Ger- 
mans, and  the  Poles,  he  founded  in  his  capital  a 
university,  two  academies,  an  observatory,  a  mu- 
seum of  antiquities,  and  a  library,  which  was  then 
the  most  considerable  in  the  world.  This  rival  of 
Mohammed  II.  spoke,  like  him,  several  languages, 
and,  like  him,  he  was  the  friend  of  literature,  while 
he  retained  the  usages  of  the  barbarians.  It  is 
said  that  he  had  accepted  the  offer  of  a  man  who 
engaged  to  assassinate  his  father-in-law,  the  King 
of  Bohemia,  but  he  rejected,  with  indignation,  the 
proposition  to  poison  him  :  "  Against  my  enemies" 
said  he,  "  /  will  employ  only  steel"  It  is  to  him 
that  the  Hungarians  owe  their  Magna  Charta  (De- 
cretum  majus,  1485.  See  chapter  iii.)  A  Hun- 
garian proverb  suffices  for  his  eulogy :  "  Since  the 
time  of  Corvin  there  is  more  justice." 

Pius  II.,  1464.— Pope  Pius  II.  and  the  State 
of  Venice  were  leagued  with  this  great  prince, 
when  Servia  and  Bosnia,  subjugated  by  the  Turks, 
opened  to  them  the  road  to  Italy.  The  pontiff  was 
the  soul  of  the  Crusade  ;  he  had  appointed  a  ren- 
dezvous at  Ancona  to  those  who  would  go  with 
him  to  fight  the  enemy  of  the  faith.  The  accom- 
plished secretary  of  the  Council  of  Basle,  the  most 
polished  mind  of  the  age,  and  the  most  subtle  of 
diplomatists,  becomes  a  hero  in  the  chair  of  St. 


48  SUMMARY    OF 

Peter.  The  noble  idea  of  the  salvation  of  Chris- 
tendom seemed  to  have  given  him  a  new  soul. 
But  his  strength  was  inadequate.  This  venerable 
man  expired  upon  the  shore,  in  sight  of  the  Veni- 
tian  galleys  which  were  to  have  borne  him  to 
Greece  (1464). 

Paul  II. — Venice  tributary  to  the  Turks,  1479.— 
His  successor,  Paul  II.,  abandoned  this  generous 
policy.  He  armed  against  the  heretical  Bohemi- 
ans the  son-in-law  of  their  king,  this  same  Matthias 
Corvin,  whose  valour  should  have  been  exercised 
only  against  the  Turks.  While  the  Christians  thus 
weakened  themselves  by  their  divisions,  Moham- 
med II.  swore  solemnly  in  the  Mosque,  which  had 
been  the  Church  of  St.  Sophia,  the  extermination 
of  Christianity.  Venice,  deserted  by  her  allies, 
lost  the  island  of  Negropont,  which  was  taken  by 
the  Turks  in  sight  of  her  fleet.  In  vain  Paul  II. 
and  the  Venitians  sought  allies,  even  to  the  extrem- 
ity of  Persia  ;  the  schah  was  defeated  by  the 
Turks,  and  the  taking  of  Caffa  shut  from  the  Eu- 
ropeans, for  a  long  time,  all  communication  with  the 
Persians.  The  Turkish  cavalry  spread  themselves 
in  the  Friouli  as  far  as  Piave,  burning  the  crops,  the 
woods,  the  villages,  and  the  palaces  of  the  Veni- 
tian  nobles.  At  night  the  flames  of  this  conflagra- 
tion were  visible  even  as  far  as  Venice.  The  Re- 
public abandoned  the  unequal  struggle,  which  she 


MODERN    HISTORY.  49 

had  sustained  alone  during  fifteen  years,  sacrificed 
Scutari,  arid  submitted  to  a  tribute. 

Death  of  Mohammed  II.,  1480-81. — Pope  Sixtus 
IV.,  and  Ferdinand,  king  of  Naples,  who  had  ren. 
dered  no  assistance  to  Venice,  accused  her  of  hav- 
ing betrayed  the  cause  of  Christendom.  After 
having  favoured  the  conspiracy  of  the  Pazzi,  and 
then  declared  open  war  with  the  Medicis,  they  turn 
their  restless  policy  against  the  Venitians.  The 
vengeance  of  Venice  was  cruel.  At  the  same  time 
that  Mohammed  II.  made  an  attack  upon  Rhodes, 
they  learned  that  a  hundred  Turkish  vessels,  un- 
der the  escort  of  the  Venitian  fleet,  had  passed  into 
Italy  ;  that  Otranto  was  already  taken,  and  its  gov- 
ernor sawn  asunder.  Great  was  their  dismay,  and 
the  event  would  perhaps  have  realized  their  worst 
fears,  if  the  death  of  the  sultan  had  not  arrested 
for  some  time  the  progress  of  Mohammedan  con- 
quest. 

Savtnarola. — The  Italians  thus  saw  strangers 
interposing  in  their  quarrels.  The  Venitians,  after 
having  drawn  in  the  Turks,  took  into  their  service 
Rene,  the  young  Duke  of  Lorraine,  who  was  heir 
to  the  claims  of  the  house  of  Anjou  upon  the  king- 
dom of  Naples.  Since  1474,  Sixtus  IV.  had  call- 
ed for  the  aid  of  the  Swiss.  The  barbarians  were 
accustomed  to  pass  the  Alps,  and  they  related 
in  their  own  country  the  wonders  of  beautiful 
E 


50  SUMMARY    OP 

Italy  ;  some  celebrated  her  luxury  and  her  wealth, 
others  her  climate,  her  wines,  and  the  delicious 
fruit.*  Then  the  prophetic  voice  of  the  Domini- 
can Savanarola  was  raised  in  Florence,  who  thus 
denounced  upon  Italy  the  chastisement  of  Baby- 
lon and  Nineveh :  "  O  Italy !  0  Rome !  says  the 
Lord,  I  will  deliver  you  into  the  hands  of  a  people 
who  shall  destroy  you  from  among  the  nations. 
The  barbarians  shall  come  up  against  you,  like 
hungry  lions,  .  .  .  and  behold,  the  dead  shall  be  so 
many  that  they  that  bury  shall  run  through  the 
streets,  and  shall  cry,  *  Who  hath  any  dead  ?'  and 
the  one  shall  bring  his  father,  and  another  shall 
bring  his  son.  ...  O  Rome !  I  say  again  unto 
thee.  repent !  0  Venice  !  0  Milan,  repent  !"f 

But  they  persisted.  The  King  of  Naples  en- 
trapped his  rebellious  subjects  in  the  snare  of  a 
perfidious  treaty.  Genoa  remained  a  prey  to  the 
factions  of  the  Ardoni  and  the  Tregosi.  Lorenzo 
de  Medicis  on  his  deathbed  refused  the  absolution 
to  which  Savanarola  had  annexed  the  freedom  of 
Florence  as  a  condition.  At  Milan,  Ludovic  the 
Moor  imprisoned  his  nephew,  preparatory  to  poi- 

*  See  the  merry  and  amusing  history  composed  by  the  loyal  servant' 
of  the  good  knight)  without  fear  and  without  reproach. — Vol.  xv.  of  the 
Collection  of  Memoirs,  p.  306,  334,  335. 

t  Savanarola,  Prediche  quadragesimali  (1544,  in  — 12) :  predica  viges- 
ima  prima,p.  211,  212.  See  also  Petri  Martyris  Anglerii  Epistol.,cxxx., 
cxxxi.,  etc, :  "  Wo  to  thee,  Mother  of  the  Arts,  0  beautiful  Italy,"  &c., 
&c.  1493, 


MODERN    HISTORY.  51 

soning  him.  Roderic  Borgia  assumed  the  tiara, 
under  the  name  of  Alexander  VI.  The  inevitable 
moment  had  now  arrived. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE  WEST FRANCE  AND  THE  LOW  COUNTRIES 

ENGLAND  AND  SCOTLAND SPAIN  AND  PORTUGAL 

IN  THE  SECOND  HALF  OF  THE  15TH  CENTURY. 

BEFORE  they  disputed  for  the  possession  of  Italy, 
it  was  necessary  that  the  great  powers  of  %the  West 
should  be  free  from  feudal  anarchy,  and  sfibuTd  unite 
all  the  national  strength  in  the  hands  of  the  kings. 
The  triumph  of  monarchical  power  over  feudalism  is 
the  subject  of  this  chapter.  With  feudalism  perish 
the  privileges  and  the  liberties  of  the  Middle  Ages. 
These  liberties  perished,  like  those  of  antiquity, 
because  they  were  privileges.  Civil  equality  could 
only  be  established  by  the  triumph  of  monarchical 
power.* 

The  instruments  of  this  revolution  were  church- 
men and  civilians.  The  Church,  recruiting  its 
ranks  only  by  election,  in  the  midst  of  the  univer- 
sal hereditary  system  which  was  established  in  the 
Middle  Ages,  had  raised  the 'conquered  above  the 

*  Equality  makes  rapid  progress  at  the  very  moment  that  the  polit- 
ical liberties  of  the  Middle  Ages  are  expiring.  Those  of  Spain  were 
overthrown  by  Charles  V.  in  1521,  and  in  1528  the  Cortes  of  Spain  per- 
mitted every  citizen  to  wear  a  sword,  that  they  might  defend  themtelve^ 
against  the  nobles.— See  Ferreras,  part  xii. 


52  SUMMARY    OF 

conquerors  the  sons  of  the  citizens,  and  even  of 
the  serfs,  above  the  nobles.  In  their  last  struggle 
against  aristocracy,  the  kings  demanded  statesmen 
and  counsellors  from  the  Church.  Duprat,  Wool- 
sey,  and  Ximenes,  who  were  all  cardinals  and 
prime  ministers,  rose  from  obscure  families.  Xim- 
enes had  commenced  by  teaching  law  in  private.* 
The  churchmen  and  the  civilians  were  both  im- 
bued with  the  principles  of  the  Roman  law,  which 
was  much  more  favourable  to  monarchy  and  to 
civil  equality  than  the  feudal  customs. 

The  features  of  this  revolution  present  some  dif- 
ference in  the  different  nations.  In  England  it  is 
prepared  and  accelerated  by  a  terrible  war,  which 
exterminates  the  nobles  ;  in  Spain  it  is  complica- 
ted by  the  struggle  of  religious  creeds.  But  every- 
where it  offers  one  common  characteristic  :  the 
aristocracy,  already  conquered  by  royal  power,  en- 
deavours to  lessen  its  influence  by  overturning 
reigning  families,  to  substitute  in  their  places  the 
rival  branches.  The  means  employed  by  the  two 
parties  were  odious,  and  often  atrocious.  Policy 
in  its  infancy  can  only  choose  between  violence 
and  perfidy  ;  see  at  a  later  period  the  death  of  the 
Earl  of  Douglas,  the  Dukes  of  Braganza  and  of 

*  Gomecius,  fol.  ii. — Giannone  remarks  that,  under  Ferdinand  the  Bas- 
tard, the  Roman  laws  prevailed  at  Naples  over  the  Lombard  laws,  by 
the  influence  of  the  professors,  -who  were  at  the  same  time  both,  magis- 
trates and  lawyers  (book  xxvjii.,  chap,  v.). 


MODERN    HISTORY.  53 

Viseu,  above  all,  that  of  the  Earl  of  Mar,  and  of 
the  Dukes  of  Clarence  and  Guienne.  Yet  poster- 
ity, deceived  by  their  success,  has  exaggerated  the 
talents  of  the  princes  of  this  epoch  (Louis  XL,  Fer- 
dinand the  Bastard,  Henry  VIL,  Iwan  III.,  &c., 
&c.).  The  most  skilful  of  all,  Ferdinand  the  Catho- 
lic, is  only  a  fortunate  impostor  in  the  eyes  of  Ma- 
chiavel.* 

§  I.  FRANCE,  1452-1494.J 

End  of  the  English  Wars. — Feudalism :  Houses  of  Burgundy,  Brittany, 
Anjou,  Albret,  Foix,  Armagnac,  <fec..  —  Grandeur  of  the  Duke  of 
Burgundy.— Advantages  of  the  King  of  France :  first  perpetual  Tax, 
first  standing  Army,  1444. — Death  of  Charles  VIL,  accession  of  Louis 
XL,  1461. — Death  of  Philip  the  Good,  Duke  of  Burgundy,  accession 
of  Charles  the  Bold,  1467.— League  for  the  Public  Good.— Treaties  ol 
Conflans  and  St.  Maur,  1465.— Conference  of  Peronne,  and  Captivity 
of  the  King,  1468. — Second  League  of  the  great  Vassals  dissolved  by 
the  Death  of  the  Duke  of  Guienne,  Brother  of  Louis,  1472. — Invasion 
of  Edward  IV.,  Treaty  of  Peguigny,  1475.— Charles  the  Bold  turns 
against  Germany,  then  against  the  Swiss ;  his  Defeat  at  Granson  and 
at  Morat,  1476.— His  Death,  1477.— Mary  of  Burgundy  marries  Maxi- 
milian of  Austria. — Louis  XL,  Master  of  Anjou,  of  Maine,  of  Pro- 
vence, of  Artois,  and  of  Franche  Compt6, 1481-82. — His  death  ;  Regen- 
cy of  Anne  of  Beaujeu,  1483.— Pretensions  of  the  States,  1484.— Humili- 
ation of  the  Grandees. — Charles  VIII.  prepares  for  the  Expedition 
into  Italy. 

State   of  France. — When   the    retreat   of  the 
English  permitted  France  to  recover  herself,  the 

*  See  Machiavel,  Familiar  Letters,  April,  1513,  May,  1514. 

t  Principal  authorities  :  vol.  ix.,  x.,  xi.,  xii.,  xiii.,  xiv.,  of  the  collection. 
of  Memoirs  relative  to  the  History  of  France,  edition  of  Mr.  Pelitot,  par- 
ticularly the  volumes  which  contain  the  Memoirs  of  Comines'  History  of 
the  Dukes  of  Burgundy  by  M.  de  Barante,  part  vii.,  and  following. 

k  E  2 


54  SUMMARY    OP 

husbandmen,  descending  from  the  castles  and  for- 
tified cities,  where  the  war  had  confined  them, 
found  their  fields  untilled  and  their  villages  in  ru- 
ins ;  the  disbanded  troops  continued  to  infest  the 
public  roads,  and  to  levy  upon  the  peasantry.  The 
feudal  barons  who  came  to  aid  Charles  VII.  to 
expel  the  English,  were  kings  upon  their  own  ter- 
ritories, and  acknowledged  no  law,  either  human 
or  divine.  A  count  of  Armagnac  styled  himself 
count  ly  the  grace  of  God,  caused  the  officers  of 
Parliament  to  be  hung,  married  his  own  sister,  and 
beat  his  confessor  when  he  refused  to  absolve  him.* 
The  Duke  of  Burgundy  during  three  years  asked 
bread  from  his  prison  windows,  until  his  brother 
caused  him  to  be  strangled. 

Power  of  the  great  Vassals. — The  oppressed  peo- 
ple turned  all  their  hopes  towards  the  king.  It 
was  from  him  that  they  expected  some  alleviation 
of  their  misery.  The  feudal  system,  which  in  the 
tenth  century  had  been  the  salvation  of  Europe, 
had  now  become  its  scourge.  This  system,  since 
the  wars  with  the  English,  seemed  to  regain  its 
ancient  strength.  Without  mentioning  the  Counts 
of  Albret,  Foix,  Armagnac,  and  many  other  nobles, 

*  Papers  relating  to  the  Trial  of  John  IV.,  count  of  Armagnac,  cited 
by  the  authors  of  the  Art  of  verifying  Detes.  It  was  John  V  who 
married  his  sister. 


MODERN    HISTORY.  55 

the  houses  of  Burgundy,  of  Brittany,  and  of  Anjou 
vied  with  royalty  in  its  splendour  and  power. 

Provence,  a  heritage  of  the  house  of  Anjou,  was 
a  rallying-point  for  the  population  of  the  South,  as 
Flanders  was  for  that  of  the  North ;  to  this  rich 
province  were  joined  Anjou,  Maine,  and  Lorraine, 
thus  surrounding  on  every  side  the  king's  domains* 
The  spirit  of  ancient  chivalry  seemed  to  have  taken 
refuge  in  this  heroic  family ;  the  world  was  filled 
with  the  exploits  and  misfortunes  of  the  King  Rene 
and  of  his  children.  While  his  daughter,  Marga- 
ret of  Anjou,  maintained  the  rights  of  the  red  rose 
in  ten  battles,  John  of  Calabria,  his  son,  took  and 
lost  the  kingdom  of  Naples,  and  died  at  the  mo- 
ment when  the  enthusiasm  of  the  Catalonians  had 
raised  him  to  the  throne  of  Aragon.  Aspirations 
so  vast,  and  wars  prosecuted  at  such  a  distance,  de- 
stroyed the  power  of  this  house  in  France.  The 
character  of  its  chief,  also,  was  not  adapted  to  sus- 
tain an  obstinate  struggle  against  the  royal  power. 
The  good  Rene,  in  his  last  years,  was  almost  en- 
tirely occupied  with  pastoral  poetry,  painting,  and 
astrology.  When  told  that  Louis  XL  had  taken 
Anjou  from  him,  he  was  painting  a  beautiful  gray 
partridge,  and  did  not  suspend  his  work. 

The  true  head  of  feudalism  was  the  Duke  of 
Burgundy.  This  prince,  richer  than  any  king  in 
Europe,  united  under  his  government  French  prov- 


56  SUMMARY    OF 

inces  and  German  states,  an  innumerable  nobility, 
and  the  most  important  commercial  cities  in  Europe. 
Ghent  and  Liege  could  each  furnish  forty  thousand 
infantry.  But  the  elements  which  composed  this 
great  power  were  too  various  to  agree  well  togeth- 
er. The  Hollanders  would  not  obey  the  Flemings, 
nor  the  Flemings  be  subservient  to  the  Burgun- 
dians.  An  implacable  hatred  existed  between  the 
nobility  of  the  castles  and  the  people  of  the  mer- 
cantile towns.  These  proud  and  opulent  cities 
united  the  industrious  spirit  of  modern  times  with 
the  violence  of  feudal  customs.  The  moment  that 
the  least  attempt  was  made  upon  the  privileges 
of  Ghent,  the  deans  of  the  guilds  sounded  St. 
Roland's  bell,  and  planted  their  banners  in  the 
market-place.  Then  the  duke,  with  his  nobles, 
mounted  their  horses,  and  battles  and  torrents  of 
blood  followed. 

Strength  of  the  King.—- The  King  of  France,  on 
the  contrary,  was  generally  supported  by  the  cities. 
In  his  dominions,  the  lower  classes  were  much 
better  protected  against  the  higher.  It  was  a  citi- 
zen, Jacques  Coeur,  who  lent  him  the  money  neces- 
sary to  reconquer  Normandy.  The  king  in  every 
place  repressed  the  license  of  the  soldiers.  Since 
1441,  he  had  cleared  the  kingdom  of  disorderly 
bands  (compagnies)  by  sending  them  against  the 
Swiss,  who  gave  them  their  due  at  the  battle  of 


MODERN    HISTORY.  57 

St.  James.  At  the  same  time  he  established  the 
Parliament  of  Toulouse,  extended  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  Parliament  of  Paris,  notwithstanding  the  ob- 
jections of  the  Duke  of  Burgundy,  and  limited  all 
the  feudal  tribunals.  In  seeing  an  Armagnac  ex- 
iled, an  Alen£on  imprisoned,  the  natural  son  of  a 
Bourbon  thrown  into  the  river,  the  nobles  learned 
that  rank  was  no  protection  from  the  law.  A  rev- 
olution so  happy,  made  every  innovation  which 
was  favourable  to  monarchical  power  most  wel- 
come. Charles  VII.  formed  a  standing  army  of 
fifteen  hundred  lancers,  instituted  the  militia  of  free 
archers,  who  were  to  remain  at  home,  and  to  per- 
form their  military  evolutions  on  Sundays  ;  he  laid 
a  perpetual  tax  upon  the  people  without  the  author- 
ity of  the  States-General,  and  there  was  not  a  mur- 
mur among  them  (1444). 

The  grandees  themselves  contributed  to  increase 
the  royal  power,  which  they  disposed  of  by  turns. 
Those  who  did  not  govern  the  king  were  contented 
to  intrigue  with  the  dauphin,  and  to  excite  him 
against  his  father.  The  face  of  all  was  changed, 
when  Charles  VII.,  who  had  retired  into  Burgundy, 
sunk  under  the  troubles  which  his  son  had  occa- 
sioned him  (1461).  At  the  funeral  of  the  king, 
Dunois  said  to  all  the  assembled  nobility,  "  The 
king,  our  master,  is  dead ;  let  each  one  provide  for 
himself." 


58  SUMMARY    OF 

Louis  XI. ,  1461. — Louis  XL  possessed  none  of 
that  chivalric  disposition,  in  favour  of  which  the 
French  pardoned  so  many  weaknesses  in  Charles 
VII.  He  liked  negotiations  better  than  battles, 
dressed  himself  meanly,  and  was  surrounded  by 
persons  of  low  quality.  He  took  a  footman  for  his 
herald,  a  barber  for  master  of  ceremonies,  and  call- 
ed the  Provost  Tristan  his  gossip.  In  his  impa- 
tience to  humble  the  nobles  at  his  arrival,  he  dis- 
missed all  the  ministers  of  Charles  VII. ;  he  took 
from  the  lords  all  influence  in  the  ecclesiastical 
elections,  by  abolishing  the  Pragmatic  Sanction  ;* 
he  incensed  the  Duke  of  Brittany  by  endeavouring 
to  deprive  him  of  the  rights  of  royalty;  he  pro- 
voked the  Count  of  Charolais,  a  son  of  the  Duke 
of  Burgundy,  by  redeeming  the  cities  of  the  Somme 
from  his  father,  and  by  wishing  to  withdraw  from 
him  the  gift  of  Normandy ;  finally,  he  dissatisfied 
all  the  nobles,  by  having  no  regard  for  their  privi- 
leges of  the  chase,  the  most  grievous  offence,  per- 
haps, which  could  be  offered  to  a  gentleman  of  that 
age. 

League  for  the  Public  Good. — The  dissatisfac- 
tion of  the  nobles  did  not  show  itself  until  the 
growing  infirmities  of  the  Duke  of  Burgundy  had 
placed  all  the  authority  in  the  hands  of  his  son, 

*  Pragmatic  Sanction,  the  ordinance  of  Charles  VII.  of  France,  drawn 
up  1438,  and  on  which  rest  the  liberties  of  the  Galilean  Church. 


MODERN    HISTORY.  59 

the  Count  of  Charolais,  afterward  so  celebrated 
under  the  name  of  Charles  the  Bold.  The  Duke 
John  of  Calabria,  the  Duke  of  Bourbon,  the  Duke 
of  Nemours,  the  Count  of  Armagnac,  the  Sieur  of 
Albret,  the  Count  of  Dunois,  and  many  others, 
then  leagued  themselves,  for  the  public  good,  with 
the  Duke  of  Brittany  and  the  Count  of  Cbarolais. 
They  had  secret  intelligence  through  their  agents 
in  the  Church  of  N6tre  Dame,  at  Paris,  and  wore 
a  rosette  of  red  silk  as  a  token  of  cognizance. 
To  this  coalition  of  almost  the  whole  nobility,  the 
king  endeavoured  to  oppose  the  cities,  and  particu- 
larly Paris.  He  there  abolished  all  the  excise 
duties,  and  formed  a  council  himself,  composed  of 
citizens,  members  of  Parliament,  and  of  the  Uni- 
versity ;  he  confided  the  queen  to  the  care  of  the 
Parisians,  and  wished  her  to  give  birth,  to  his 
children  in  their  city,  which,  of  all  the  cities  in 
the  world,  he  loved  the  most.  There  was  little  ef- 
fected in  this  attempt  of  the  confederates.  Louis 
XI.  had  time  to  overcome  the  Duke  of  Bourbon. 
The  Duke  of  Brittany  joined  the  principal  army 
only  after  the  battle  of  Montheri.  The  art  of  war 
was  so  entirely  forgotten  since  the  expulsion  of  j 
the  English,  that,  with  an  exception  of  a  small 
number  of  troops,  each  army  took  to  flight.*  The 
king  then  entered  into  some  deceptive  negotiations, 

*  Comines,  book  i.,  chap.  iv. 


60  SUMMARY    OF 

and  the  threatened  dissolution  of  the  league  de- 
cided the  confederates  to  make  a  treaty  with  the 
enemy  (at  Conflans  and  at  St.  Maur,  1465).  The 
king  granted  all  their  demands  ;  to  his  brother  he 
gave  Normandy,  a  province  which,  from  itself 
alone,  paid  a  third  part  of  the  royal  revenues ;  to 
the  Count  of  Charolais,  the  cities  of  the  Somme ; 
and  to  all  the  others  he  gave  strong  castles,  seig- 
neuries,  and  pensions.  In  order  that  the  public 
good  might  not  appear  to  be  entirely  forgotten,  it 
was  stipulated,  for  form's  sake,  that  an  assembly  of 
notables  should  consult  about  it.  The  greater  part 
of  the  other  articles  were  not  more  seriously  exe- 
cuted than  the  last ;  the  king  availed  himself  of 
the  revolt  of  Liege  and  of  Dinant  against  the 
Duke  of  Burgundy  to  retake  Normandy,  and  had 
the  principal  articles  of  the  treaty  of  Conflans  an- 
nulled by  the  states  of  the  kingdom  (at  Tours, 
1466),  and  compelled  the  Duke  of  Brittany  to  re- 
nounce his  alliance  with  the  Count  of  Charolais, 
then  Duke  of  Burgundy. 

Conference  of  Peronne,  1468.  — Louis  XL,  who 
hoped,  by  the  power  of  his  address,  to  appease  the 
Duke  of  Burgundy,  went  himself  to  meet  him  at 
Peronne  (1468).  The  duke  had  just  heard  of  the 
revolt  of  the  people  of  Liege,  who  were  excited 
against  him  by  the  emmissaries  of  the  King  of 
France.  They  had  made  their  bishop,  Louis  of 


MODERN    HISTORY.  61 

Bourbon,  a  prisoner,  murdered  the  archdeacon,  and, 
in  horrible  sport,  they  threw  his  limbs  about  from 
one  to  another.  So  great  was  the  fury  of  the 
Duke  of  Burgundy',  that  the  king  for  a  moment 
trembled  for  his  life.  He  saw  enclosed  within  the 
castle  of  Peronne  the  tower  in  which  the  Count 
of  Vermandois  had  caused  the  death  of  Charles 
the  Simple  ;  but  he  was  happily  relieved  from  ap- 
prehension. The  duke  was  satisfied  with  making 
him  confirm  the  treaty  of  Conflans  and  taking  him 
before  Liege  to  behold  that  city  laid  in  ruins.  The- 
king,  at  his  return,  did  not  fail  to  have  all  that  he* 
had  just  sworn  to  annulled  by  the  states. 

Death  of  the  Duke  of  Guienne,  1472. — There 
was  now  a  more  formidable  league  against  him 
than  that  of  the  public  good.  His  brother,  to  whom 
he  had  just  given  Guienne,  and  the  Dukes  of  Brit- 
tany and  Burgundy,  had  drawn  to  that  place  most 
of  the  lords  who  had  been  hitherto  loyal.  JThey 
asked  aid  of  the  King  of  Aragon,  John  II. ,  who^ 
made  claims  to  Roussillon,  and  of  Edward  IV. r 
king  of  England,  brother-in-law  to  the  Duke  of 
Burgundy,  who  felt  that  it  was  necessary  for  the 
safety  of  his  reign  to  employ  abroad  the  restless 
spirits  of  the  English.  The  Duke  of  Brittany  did 
not  dissemble  the  views  of  the  confederates.  "  I 
am  so  interested  for  the  good  of  the  kingdom  of 
France,"  said  he,  "  that,  instead  of  one  king,  [ 
F 


62  SUMMARY    OF 

would  give  her  six."  Louis  XL,  at  this  time,  could 
not  hope  for  the  support  of  the  cities,  which  he 
had  just  loaded  with  taxes.  The  death  of  his 
brother  could  alone  break  the  league  :  his  brother 
died.  The  king,  who  was  regularly  informed  of 
the  progress  of  his  illness,  ordered  public  prayers 
for  the  health  of  the  Duke  of  Guienne,  and,  at  the 
same  time,  he  made  his  troops  advance  to  seize  his 
estates.  He  stopped  the  proceedings  against  the 
monk  who  was  suspected  of  having  poisoned  the 
prince,  and  had  it  reported  that  the  devil  strangled 
him  in  his  prison. 

Landing  of  Edward  IV.,  1475. — Louis  XL,  hav- 
ing thus  disposed  of  his  brother,  repulsed  John  II. 
from  Rousillon,  Charles  the  Bold  from  Picardy,  and 
arrested  all  his  enemies  within  his  kingdom.*  But 
the  greatest  danger  was  not  passed.  The  King  of 
England  landed  at  Calais,  claiming,  as  was  the 
custom,  his  kingdom  of  France.  The  Duke  of 
Burgundy,  instead  of  receiving  the  English  at  their 
arrival,  and  conducting  them  himself  into  a  country 
where  all  was  new  to  them,  had  gone  to  make  war 
in  Germany.  In  the  mean  time,  the  weather  was 

*  He  freed  himself  of  the  Duke  of  Alencon  by  imprisoning  him  (1472) ; 
of  King  Rene  by  depriving  him  of  Anjou  (1474) ;  of  the  Duke  of  Bourbon 
by  giving  Anne  of  France  (1473-74)  to  his  brother,  and  by  nominating  him 
for  his  lieutenant  in  several  provinces  of  the  South  (1475);  and,  finally,  of 
the  Count  of  Armagnac  and  Charles  d'Albret  (1473),  the  Duke  of  Ne- 
mours, and  the  Constable  of  St.  Pol  (1475-77)  by  causing  them  all  foul 
to  be  put  to  death. 


MODERN    HISTORY.  63 

unfavourable ;  though  Edward  had  lodged  the  citi- 
zens who  followed  him  in  good  quarters,  yet  they 
were  unaccustomed  to  such  a  life,  and  soon  became 
weary  of  it ;  they  had  imagined  that,  having  once 
crossed  the  Channel,  they  would  have  a  battle  within 
three  days. — (Comines,  b.  iv.,  ch.  xi.)  Louis  had 
the  address  to  make  the  king  and  his  favourites  ac- 
cept of  gifts  and  pensions,  and  laughed  heartily  at 
thus  overcoming  an  army  which  came  to  conquer 
France. 

War  of  Charles  the  Bold  against  Germany. — - 
He  had  now  nothing  more  to  apprehend  from 
Charles  the  Bold.  This  haughty  prince  had  con- 
ceived the  plan  of  establishing  still  more  exten- 
sively the  old  kingdom  of  Burgundy,  by  uniting  to 
his  territories  Lorraine,  Provence,  Dauphiny,  and 
Switzerland.  Louis  XI.  was  careful  not  to  inter- 
fere with  him  j  he  prolonged  the  truce,  and  "  let 
him  go  to  knock  against  the  Germans"  The  duke 
had  undertaken  to  make  the  town  of  Neuss  receive 
one  of  the  pretenders  to  the  archbishopric  of  Co- 
logne ;  all  the  princes  of  the  Empire,  with  an  army 
of  a  hundred  thousand  men,  assembled  to  watch 
his  movements.  He  persevered  for  a  whole  year, 
and  only  left  this  unhappy  siege  to  turn  his  army 
against  the  Swiss. 

Defeat  of  Granson,  1476— Defeat  of  Nor  at.— 
This  nation  of  citizens  and  peasantry,  who  for  two 


64  SUMMARY    0 

centuries  had  been  free  from  the  yoke  of  the  house 
of  Austria,  had  always  detested  both  its  princes  and 
its  nobility.  Louis  XL,  when  dauphin,  had  proved 
the  bravery  of  the  Swiss  at  the  battle  of  St.  James, 
where  sixteen  hundred  of  them  preferred  death 
rather  than  to  retreat  before  twenty  thousand  men. 
The  Sire  of  Hagenbach,  governor  for  the  Duke  of 
Burgundy,  in  the  county  of  Ferrette,  annoyed  their 
allies,  and  did  not  scruple  to  insult  them.  "  We 
will  flay  the  Bear  of  Berne"  said  he,  "  and  take 
his  skin  of  fur  for  a  lining"  The  patience  of  the 
Swiss  became  exhausted ;  they  made  an  alliance 
with  their  ancient  enemies,  the  Austrians,  had 
Hagenbach  beheaded  and  defeated  the  Burgundi- 
ans  at  Hericourt.  They  endeavoured  to  appease 
the  Duke  of  Burgundy ;  they  showed  him  that  he 
could  gain  nothing  from  a  contest  against  them. 
"  There  is  more  gold?  said  they,  "  in  the  spurs  of 
your  knights  than  you  will  find  in  all  our  cantons" 
The  duke  was  inflexible.  Having  invaded  Lor- 
raine and  Switzerland,  he  took  Granson,  and 
caused  all  the  garrison,  which  had  surrendered  on 
parole,  to  be  drowned.  In  the  mean  time,  the 
army  of  the  Swiss  advanced ;  the  Duke  of  Bur- 
gundy imprudently  went  to  meet  them,  and  thus 
lost  the  advantage  which  the  plain  afforded  to  his 
cavalry.  Posted  upon  a  hill,  which  yet  bears  his 
name  he  saw  them  descending  from  the  mountains, 


MODERN    HISTORY  65 

shouting  "  Granson  !  Granson  !"  while  the  whole 
valley  echoed  with  the  sound  of  those  enormous 
trumpets,  named  by  the  Swiss  the  "Bull  of  Uri," 
and  the  "  Cow  of  Unterwalderi,"  and  which,  they 
said,  they  had  received  from  Charlemagne.  Nothing 
could  check  the  confederates.  In  vain  the  Bur- 
gundians  essayed  to  penetrate  the  forest  of  spears 
which  constantly  advanced  towards  them.  The 
route  was  soon  complete.  The  camp  of  the  duke, 
his  treasures,  and  his  cannon  became  the  spoils  of 
the  conquerors ;  the  silver  found  among  his  treas- 
ures was  shared  without  counting,  and  was  meas- 
ured  out  by  hatfuls.  But  they  knew  not  the 
value  of  all  that  they  had  gained.  A  soldier  sold 
the  great  diamond  of  the  Duke  of  Burgundy  for  a 
gingle  crown.  Yet  Charles  the  Bold  would  learn 
no  wisdom  from  misfortune.  Three  months  after 
this  loss  he  attacked  the  Swiss  at  Morat,  arid  there 
met  with  a  still  more  bloody  defeat.  At  that  bat- 
tle the  conquerors  slew  all  the  enemy,  and  raised 
a  monument  of  the  bones  of  the  Burgundians. 
Cruel  as  at  Morat  was  long  a  proverb  with  the 
Swiss. 

Defeat  at  Nancy,  1477.— This  last  defeat  was 
the  ruin  of  Charles  the  Bold.  He  had  drained  his 
good  cities  of  men  and  of  money,  and  for  two 
years  his  courtiers  were  constantly  under  arms. 
He  now  yielded  to  a  melancholy,  which  bordered 
F2 


66  SUMMARY    OF 

on  derangement;  he  allowed  his  beard  to  grow, 
and  would  not  change  his  clothing.  Still  he  was 
obstinately  bent  on  attacking  the  young  Prince 
Rene,  and  on  endeavouring  to  remove  him  from 
Lorraine.  This  prince,  who  had  fought  on  the 
side  of  the  Swiss,  was  vain  of  speaking  their  lan- 
guage, and  even  sometimes  adopted  their  costume  ; 
he  found  them  ready  to  aid  him.  The  Duke  of 
Burgundy,  whose  army  was  reduced  to  three  thou- 
sand men,  had  little  hope  for  the  result  of  the  bat- 
tle ;  but  he  was  reluctant,  and  ashamed  to  fly  before 
a  child.  At  the  moment  of  the  charge,  the  Italian 
Campo  Basso,  with  whom  Louis  long  since  had 
contracted  for  the  life  of  Charles  the  Bold,  tore  off 
the  red  cross,  and  thus  commenced  the  defeat  of 
the  Burgundians,  1477.  Some  days  after  the  bat- 
tle, the  body  of  the  duke  was  found  ;  it  was  borne 
in  great  pomp  to  Nancy  ;  Rene  sprinkled  it  with 
holy  water,  and  taking  the  hand  of  his  cousin,  said, 
"  Fair  cousin,  God  keep  your  soul !  you  have  given 
us  a  good  deal  of  trouble  and  difficulty"  But  the 
people  would  not  believe  in  the  death  of  a  prince 
•whose  exploits  had  so  long  occupied  all  minds. 
They  confidently  expected  that  he  would  soon  ap- 
pear to  them  again,  and  ten  years  afterward  the 
merchants  delivered  goods  without  pay,  on  condi- 
tion that  they  should  receive  double  when  the  great 
Duke  of  Burgundy  returned. 


MODERN    HISTORY.  67 

The  fall  of  the  house  of  Burgundy  gave  perma- 
nent strength  to  that  of  France.  The  proprietors 
-of  the  three  great  fiefs  of  Burgundy,  Provence, 
and  Brittany,  having  died  without  male  heirs,  the 
French  kings  broke  the  succession  to  the  first  in 
1477,  secured  the  second  by  virtue  of  a  will,  1481, 
and  the  third  by  a  marriage,  1491. 

War  against  Maximilian. — Louis  XI.  at  first 
hoped  to  obtain  the  whole  heritage  of  Charles  the 
Bold  by  marrying  the  dauphin  to  his  daughter, 
Maiy  of  Burgundy.  But  the  States  of  Flanders 
were  not  inclined  to  obey  the  French ;  they  gave 
the  hand  of  their  sovereign  to  Maximilian  of  Aus- 
tria, afterward  emperor,  and  the  grandfather  of 
Charles  V.  Thus  began  the  rivalry  of  the  houses 
of  France  and  Austria.  Notwithstanding  the  de- 
feat of  the  French  at  Guinegate,  Louis  XI.  remain- 
ed master  of  Artois  and  Franche  Compte,  which,  by 
the  treaty  of  Arras,  were  to  be  the  dowry  of  Mar- 
guerite, daughter  of  the  archduke,  who  was  prom- 
ised to  the  dauphin,  Charles  VIII. 

Charles  VIIL — When  Louis  XL  left  his  throne 
to  his  son,  who  was  still  a  child  (1483),  France, 
which  had  suffered  so  much  in  silence,  now  raised 
her  voice.  The  States,  called  together  in  1484  by 
the  regent,  Anne  of  Beaujeu,  wished  to  give  their 
delegates  the  principal  influence  in  the  council  of 
regency ;  to  vote  a  tax  for  only  two  years,  at  the 


68  SUMMARY   OF 

end  of  which  they  should  be  again  ca/led  together , 
and,  lastly,  to  regulate  the  division  of  the  tax  them- 
selves. The  six  nations,  into  which  the  states 
were  divided,  began  to  reproach  each  other,  and 
wished  to  be  formed  into  territories,  like  Langue- 
doc  and  Normandy,  when  the  dissolution  of  the  as- 
sembly was  pronounced,  llie  regent,  by  her  firm- 
ness, continued  the  policy  of  Louis  XI.  in  regard 
to  the  grandees.  She  conquered  the  Duke  of  Or- 
leans, who  disputed  the  regency  with  her,  and 
united  Brittany  to  the  crown,  by  marrying  her  son 
to  the  heiress  of  that  duchy  (1491).  Thus  the 
work  of  humbling  the  great  vassals  was  accomplish- 
ed. France  attained  that  unity  which  was  to  make 
her  formidable  to  all  Europe,  and  the  old  servants 
of  Louis  XI.  were  followed  by  a  generation  young 
and  ardent  as  their  king.  Charles  VIII.,  impatient 
to  give  importance  to  his  claims  upon  the  kingdom 
of  Naples,  which  he  had  inherited  from  the  house 
of  Anjou,  appeased  the  jealousy  of  the  King  of 
England  with  money,  gave  up  Roussillon  to  Fer- 
dinand the  Catholic,  Artois  and  Franche  Compte  to 
Maximilian,  thus  sacrificing  three  of  the  strongest 
barriers  of  France.  But  the  loss  of  a  few  provin- 
ces is  of  little  importance  to  the  future  conqueror 
of  the  kingdom  of  Naples,  and  of  the  empire  of  the 
East. 


MODERN    HISTORY.  69 

§  II.   ENGLAND,   1454-1509.     SCOTLAND, 
1452-1513. 

England :  Marriage  of  Henry  VI.  with  Margaret  of  Anjou. — Death  of 
Gloucester.— Loss  of  the  French  Provinces. — Richard  of  York,  War- 
wick ;  Condemnation  of  the  Ministers,  Richard  Protector,  1455. — Bat- 
tles of  Northampton  and  Wakefield  ;  Death  of  Richard,  his  Son,  Ed- 
ward IV.,  1461. — Defeat  of  the  Lancastrians  at  Towton  and  at  Exham, 
1463.— Overthrow  of  Edward  IVi  at  Nottingham,  1470.— Battle  of 
Tewksbury  ,  Defeat  and  Death  of  Henry  VI.,  1471.— Death  of  Ed- 
ward IV.,  1483.— Richard  III.— Henry  Tudor ;  Battle  of  Bosworth  ; 
Henry  VII.,  1485.— Increase  of  the  Regal  Power.— Scotland:  Contest 
of  James  II.  against  the  Aristocracy. — His  Alliance  with  the  House 
of  Lancaster.— James  III.,  1460.— James  IV.,  1488.— Reconciliation  of 
the  King  and  Nobility.— Battle  of  Flodden.— James  V.,  1513. 

Henry  VI. — Warwick. — The  French,  who,  du- 
ring a  century,  had  always  been  defeated  by  the 
English,  had,  at  last,  their  turn.  The  English, 
driven  from  the  French  cities  in  every  campaign 
by  Dunois  or  Richmond,  returned  to  their  provin- 
ces with  shame,  and  blamed  their  generals  and 
their  ministers  for  their  defeat ;  it  was  now  the 
quarrels  of  the  uncles  of  the  king,  now  the  recall 
of  the  Duke  of  York,  which  had  caused  their  dis- 
grace. To  the  conqueror  of  Agincourt  had  suc- 
ceeded the  young  prince  Henry  VI.,  whose  inno- 
cence and  gentleness  were  not  formed  to  contend 
with  these  troublesome  times,  and  whose  feeble 
reason  became  completely  deranged  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  civil  war.  While  the  annual 
revenue  -of  the  crown  amounted  to  only  £5,000 


70  SUMMARY    OF 

sterling,*  several  noble  families  had  amassed  royal 
fortunes  by  marriages,  or  from  inheritance.  It  is 
said  that  the  Earl  of  Warwick,  one  of  the  last  and 
most,  illustrious  examples  of  feudal  hospitality,  sup- 
ported on  his  estates  as  many  as  30,000  persons  ;f 
when  he  kept  house  in  London,  his  vassals  and  his 
friends  consumed  six  oxen  at  a  meal.J  To  this 
colossal  fortune  he  added  all  the  accomplishments 
of  a  chief  of  a  party.  But  his  courage  was  a  stran- 
ger to  the  chivalric  point  of  honour,  for  this  chief, 
who  was  seen  to  attack  a  fleet  of  twice  the  size  of 
his  own,$  often  fled  without  blushing,  when  he 
found  his  soldiers  yield.  ||  Without  mercy  towards 
the  nobles,  in  battles  he  always  spared  the  people. 
In  review  of  his  actions,  how  can  we  be  astonished 
that  he  attained  the  surname  of  King-maker  ? 

Margaret  of  Anjou. — The  court,  which  was  al- 
ready too  feeble  to  contend  against  such  men,  again 
aggravated,  as  if  designedly,  the  discontent  of  the 
people.  When  the  hatred  of  the  English  against 
France  was  imbittered  by  so  many  reverses,  the 
court  gave  them  a  French  queen.  The  fair  Mar- 
garet of  Anjou,  daughter  of  King  Rene  of  Pro- 
vence, was  to  bring  into  England  the  heroic  spirit 
of  her  family,  but  not  its  milder  virtues.  Henry 

*  Lingard,  vol.  v.  of  the  Fr.  translation,  p.  259. 

t  Hume.  -t  Lingard,  vol.  v.,  p.  284. 

§  Lingard,  vol.  v.,  p.  282.  I  Comines,  book  iii.,  ch,  vii 


MODERN    HISTORY.  71 

purchased  her  hand  by  yielding  Maine  and  Anjou  •, 
and  instead  of  receiving  a  dower,  he  gave  one.  A 
year  had  scarcely  elapsed  since  this  marriage,  when 
the  uncle  of  the  king,  the  good  Duke  of  Gloucester, 
whom  the  nation  adored  for  his  warlike  spirit,  was 
found  dead  in  his  bed.  Bad  tidings  from  France 
rapidly  succeeded  each  other.  While  still  indig- 
nant for  the  loss  of  Maine  and  Anjou,  the  news 
arrived  that  Rouen  and  all  Normandy  were  in  the 
hands  of  the  French ;  their  army  found  no  resist- 
ance in  Guienne  ;  not  a  soldier  was  sent  from  Eng- 
land, not  a  governor  endeavoured  to  oppose  it,  and 
in  August,  1451,  the  city  of  Calais  was  all  that  be- 
longed to  the  English  on  the  Continent. 

York  Protector,  1455. — The  national  pride,  so 
cruelly  humbled,  now  began  to  seek  a  champion. 
All  eyes  were  turned  towards  Richard,  duke  of 
York,  whose  claims,  though  long  proscribed,  were 
superior  to  those  of  the  house  of  Lancaster.  The 
Nevilles,  and  a  great  part  of  the  nobility,  rallied 
around  him.  The  Duke  of  Suffolk,  the  queen's 
favourite,  was  their  first  victim.  Afterward  an  im- 
postor caused  the  revolt  of  the  men  of  Kent,  who 
were  always  the  first  for  a  revolution,  conducted 
them  to  London,  and  beheaded  Lord  Say,  another 
of  Henry's  ministers.  At  last  Richard's  own  par- 
tisans came  armed  to  St.  Alban's,  and  demanded 
that  Lord  Somerset  should  be  delivered  to  them 


72  SUMMARY    OF 

who,  after  having  lost  Normandy,  had  become 
prime  minister.  Here  was  the  first  blood  shed  in 
that  war  which  was  to  continue  thirty  years,  to 
cost  the  lives  of  eighty-four  princes,  and  to  exter- 
minate the  ancient  nobility  of  the  kingdom.  The 
Duke  of  York  made  a  prisoner  of  the  king,  con- 
ducted him  in  triumph  to  London,  and  was  satisfied 
with  the  title  of  Protector  for  himself  (1455). 

His  Death. — In  the  mean  time,  Margaret  of  An- 
jou  armed  the  northern  counties,  which  were  de- 
cided enemies  to  innovation.  She  was  defeated 
at  Northampton.  Henry  again  fell  into  the  hands 
of  his  enemies,  and  the  conqueror,  no  longer  dis- 
sembling his  aim,  made  the  Parliament  declare  him 
presumptive  heir  to  the  throne.  He  had  thus  at- 
tained the  summit  of  his  ambition,  when  he  encoun 
tered  near  Wakefield  the  army  which  the  indefat- 
igable Margaret  had  again  assembled.  He  accept- 
ed the  combat,  notwithstanding  the  inferiority  of 
his  forces,  was  conquered,  and  his  head,  decked  by 
the  queen  with  a  crown  of  paper,  was  set  upon  the 
walls  of  York.  Rutland,  his  son,  who  was  scarce- 
ly twelve  years  of  age,  fled  with  his  tutor ;  he  was 
overtaken  at  the  bridge  of  Wakefield,  when  the 
poor  child,  unable  to  speak,  fell  upon  his  knees ; 
the  tutor  having  pronounced  his  name,  Lord  Clif- 
ford exclaimed,  "  Thy  father  killed  my  father — thou 
must  die,  thou  and  all  thy  race,"  and  stabbed  him 


MODERN    HISTORY.  73 

to  the  heart.  This  barbarity  seemed  to  have  open- 
ed an  abyss  between  the  two  parties ;  from  that 
time  scaffolds  were  erected  upon  the  fields  of  bat- 
tle, and  not  a  life  among  the  conquered  was  spared. 
Edward  IV.,  1461— Margaret  in  France,  1463. 
— At  this  time  the  quarrels  of  the  red  and  white 
rose  (badges  of  the  houses  of  York  and  Lancaster) 
became  more  systematic.  Warwick  had  the  son 
of  the  Duke  of  York  proclaimed,  king  by  the  popu- 
lace of  London,  under  the  title  of  Edward  IV. 
(1461).  The  child  of  a  civil  war,  Edward  per- 
mitted blood  to  flow  without  compunction  ;  but  he 
interested  the  people  by  the  misfortunes  of  his  fa- 
ther and  his  brother  ;  he  was  only  twenty  years 
old,  he  loved  pleasure,  and  was  the  handsomest 
man  of  the  age.  The  Lancastrian  party  had  only 
in  their  favour  the  long  possession  of  the  throne, 
and  the  oaths  of  the  people.  When  the  queen 
dragged  towards  the  South  a  tribe  of  unbridled 
northern  peasants,  who  were  only  paid  by  plunder, 
London  and  the  richest  provinces  attached  them- 
selves to  Edward,  as  their  defender.  Warwick 
speedily  led  the  young  king  against  her,  as  far  as 
the  village  of  Towton.  It  was  there  that,  during 
a  whole  day  and  in  a  violent  snowstorm,  the  two 
parties  fought,  with  a  fury  rarely  evinced  even  in 
civil  war.  Warwick,  seeing  that  his  party  were 
giving  way,  killed  his  horse,  and  kissing  the  cross 
G 


74  SUMMARY    OF 

which  formed  the  hilt  of  his  sword,  swore  that  he 
would  share  the  fate  of  the  last  of  his  soldiers. 
The  Lancastrians  were  precipitated  into  the  River 
Cock.  Edward  forbade  his  army  to  give  quarters 
to  the  vanquished,  and  38,000  men  were  drowned 
and  massacred.  The  queen,  having  no  more  re- 
sources, addressed  herself  to  strangers,  to  the 
French ;  she  had  already  given  up  Berwick  to  the 
Scotch;  she  went  over  to  France,  and  promised 
Louis  XL  to  give  him  Calais  as  a -pledge,  to  obtain 
thereby  a  feeble  and  odious  assistance.  But  the 
fleet  which  carried  her  treasures  was  shattered  by 
the  tempest ;  she  lost  the  battle  of  Exham,  and 
her  last  hopes  (1463).  The  unhappy  Henry  soon 
fell  again  into  the  power  of  his  enemies.  The 
queen  at  last  arrived  in  France  with  her  son,  after 
encountering  the  greatest  dangers. 

After  victory  came  the  division  of  the  spoils. 
Warwick  and  the  other  Nevilles  had  the  principal 
share.  But  they  soon  saw  their  interest  superse- 
ded by  the  relations  of  Elizabeth  Woodville,  a  pri- 
vate gentlewoman,  whom  the  imprudent  love  of 
Edward  raised  to  the  throne.*  Then  the  King-ma- 
ker thought  of  nothing  but  how  to  destroy  his  own 

*  According  to  a  tradition  generally  received,  Warwick  had  negotia- 
ted in  France  the  marriage  of  the  King  of  England  with  Bonne  of  Sa- 
voy, sister-in-law  of  Louis  XL,  during  the  time  that  Edward  was  mar- 
ried to  Elizabeth  Woodville.  This  tradition  is  not  confirmed  by  the 
three  principil  contemporary  historians.— Lingard. 


MODERN    HISTORY.  75 

work  ;  he  negotiated  with  France,  caused  a  rebel- 
lion in  the  north  of  England,  drew  even  the  brother 
of  the  king,  the  Duke  of  Clarence,  into  his  party, 
and  made  himself  master  of  the  person  of  Edward. 
England  had  for  a  moment  two  royal  captives  :  but 
Warwick  soon  saw  himself  compelled  to  fly  with 
Clarence,  and  to  go  over  to  the  Continent. 

Edward  IV.  expelled,  1470. — York  could  only 
be  overthrown  by  the  army  of  Lancaster.  War- 
wick became  reconciled  with  that  same  Margaret 
of  Anjou  who  had  caused  his  father  to  be  behead- 
ed, and  returned  to  England  in  the  vessels  of  the 
King  of  France.  In  vain  Charles  the  Bold  had 
warned  the  indolent  Edward  ;  in  vain  the  people 
in  their  ballads  chanted  the  name  of  the  exile,  and 
alluded  in  the  rude  plays  of  that  age  to  his  misfor- 
tunes, and  to  his  virtues.  Edward  only  roused 
himself  on  hearing  that  Warwick  was  approaching 
with  an  army  of  sixty  thousand  men.  Betrayed 
by  his  own  party  at  Nottingham,  he  saved  himself 
so  precipitately,  that  he  landed  almost  alone  in  the 
territories  of  the  Duke  of  Burgundy. 

Death  of  Warwick— Henry  VI.,  1471— Edward 
IV.,  1483.— While  Henry  VI.  was  leaving  the 
Tower  of  London,  and  the  King  of  France  was  cel- 
ebrating the  restoration  of  his  ally  in  public  fetes, 
Clarence,  who  repented  of  the  aid  which  he  had 
rendered  to  the  house  of  Lancaster,  recalled  his 


76  SUMMARY     OF 

brother  to  England.  Edward  departed  from  Bur- 
gundy with  means  furnished  secretly  by  the  duke, 
and  went  on  shore  at  Ravenspur,  the  very  place 
where  Henry  IV.  had  landed  to  dethrone  Rich- 
ard II.  No  obstacle  opposed  his  advance,  and 
he  declared,  as  he  proceeded,  that  his  intention 
was  only  to  claim  the  Duchy  of  York,  his  fami- 
ly inheritance.  He  wore  the  ostrich  feather  (worn 
by  the  partisans  of  the  Prince  of  Wales,  son  of 
Henry  "VL),  and  made  his  followers  cry,  "  Long 
life  to  King  Henry !"  But  as  soon  as  his  army 
was  strong  enough,  he  dropped  the  mask,  and  pre- 
pared to  dispute  the  throne  with  the  Lancastrians 
upon  the  plain  of  Barnet.  The  treachery  of  Clar- 
ence, who  went  over  to  his  brother  with  12,000 
men,  and  the  embarrassment  caused  by  their  mis- 
taking the  sun,  which  Edward's  party  bore  upon 
their  arms,  for  the  blazing  star  of  their  opponents, 
occasioned  the  loss  of  the  battle,  and  the  death  of 
the  Earl  of  Warwick.  Margaret  was  attacked  :  be- 
fore she  could  collect  the  troops  which  remained 
to  her,  she  was  vanquished,  and  taken,  with  her 
son,  to  Tewksbury.  The  young  prince  was  con- 
ducted to  the  tent  of  the  king.  "  Who  has  made 
you  so  bold  as  to  enter  my  territories  ?"  said  Ed- 
ward to  him.  "  I  came,"  proudly  replied  the  young 
prince,  u  to  defend  my  father's  crown  and  my  own 
inheritance."  Edward,  angry  at  the  reply,  struck 


MODERN    HISTORY.  77 

him  with  his  gauntlet  in  the  face,  and  his  brothers, 
Clarence  and  Gloucester  (or  perhaps  their  knights), 
threw  themselves  upon  him,  and  killed  him.  It  is 
said  that  on  the  same  day  that  Edward  entered 
London,  Henry  VI.  was  assassinated  in  the  Tower 
by  the  hand  of  the  same  Duke  of  Gloucester 
(1471).  From  that  time  the  triumph  of  the  red 
rose  was  secured,  and  Edward  had  nothing  more 
to  fear  except  from  his  own  brother.  He  antici- 
pated Clarence  by  taking  his  life  under  some  friv- 
olous pretext;  but,  if  we  may  believe  common 
report,  he  was  poisoned  by  Gloucester  (1483). 
See  above,  his  expedition  to  France. 

Richard  III. — Edward  had  scarcely  left  his 
throne  to  his  young  son,  Edward  V.,  when  the 
Duke  of  Gloucester  had  himself  proclaimed  Pro- 
tector. The  queen-mother,  who  knew  too  well 
what  protection  she  had  to  expect  from  a  man 
whose  appearance  alone  made  one  shudder,  fled 
for  refuge  to  Westminster,  but  the  sanctity  of  the 
place  was  no  barrier  to  Richard ;  she  tremblingly 
placed  her  two  children  under  his  guardianship. 
But  he  could  attempt  nothing  against  them  while 
their  natural  guardians  were  living,  especially  Lord 
Hastings,  the  personal  friend  of  Edward  IV.  One 
day  Richard  entered  the  council-chamber  with  a 
smiling  countenance  ;  then  suddenly  changing  his 
looks,  he  exclaimed,  "  What  punishment  do  they 
G2 


78  SUMMARY   OF 

deserve  who  conspire  against  the  life  of  the  pro- 
tector ?  See  into  what  a  condition  the  wife  of  my 
brother  and  Jane  Shore  (who  was  the  mistress  of 
Hastings)  have  reduced  me  by  their  sorceries  !" 
and  he  showed  a  withered  arm,  which  had  been  in 
this  state  from  his  birth.  Then  addressing  Lord 
Hastings,  he  said,  "  It  is  you  who  are  the  insti- 
gator of  all  this ;  by  St.  Paul,  I  will  not  dine  until 
your  head  is  brought  to  me."  He  struck  upon  a 
table,  a  crowd  of  soldiers  entered  the  hall,  dragged 
Hastings  away,  and  beheaded  him  in  the  court- 
yard upon  a  piece  of  timber  which  they  found 
there.  The  Parliament  then  declared  the  two 
young  princes  bastards,  and  the  sons  of  a  bastard. 
A  Doctor  Shaw  preached  to  the  people,  "  that  ille- 
gitimate slips  would  not  be  useful ;"  a  dozen  work- 
men threw  their  caps  in  the  air,  crying  "  Live  King 
Richard  !"  and  he  accepted  the  crown  to  comply 
with  the  commands  of  the  people.  His  nephews 
were  smothered  in  the  Tower,  and  a  long  time  after, 
the  skeletons  of  two  children  were  found  under  the 
stairway  of  the  prison. 

Death  of  Richard  III.,  1485.  —  Nevertheless, 
the  throne  of  Richard  III.  was  not  firm  ;  there  re- 
mained in  a  remote  part  of  Brittany  a  scion  of 
Lancaster,  Henry  Tudor,  of  Richmond,  whose 
claims  to  the  crown  were  unquestionable.  He 
was,  by  his  grandfather,  Owen  of  Tudor,  of  Welsh 


MODERN    HISTORY.  79 

origin.  The  Welsh  invited  him  to  England.* 
With  the  exception  of  the  northern  counties,  where 
Richard  had  many  partisans,  all  England  waited 
for  Richmond  to  declare  themselves  in  his  favour. 
Richard,  not  knowing  on  whom  to  rely,  hastened 
the  crisis,  and  advanced  as  far  as  Bosworth.  Scarce- 
ly were  the  two  armies  in  sight  of  each  other, 
when  Richard  recognised  in  the  hostile  ranks  the 
Stanleys,  whom  he  believed  to  be  on  his  side.  He 
then  bounded  forward,  the  crown  upon  his  head, 
crying  "  Treason !  Treason !"  killed  two  gentlemen 
with  his  own  hand,  overthrew  the  standard  of  the 
enemy,  and  opened  the  way  even  to  his  rival ;  but 
he  was  overwhelmed  by  numbers.  Lord  Stanley 
tore  the  crown  from  him,  and  placed  it  on  the  head 
of  Henry.  The  body  of  Richard,  stripped  of  every- 
thing, was  thrown  on  a  horse,  the  head  hanging  on 
one  side,  the  feet  on  the  other,  and  was  thus  con- 
veyed to  Leicester  (1485). 

Henry  VII.,  Tudor. — Henry  united  the  claims 
of  the  two  rival  houses  by  his  marriage  with  Eliz- 
abeth, daughter  of  Edward  IV.  But  his  reign  was 
a  long  time  disturbed  by  the  intrigues  of  the  widow 
of  Edward,  and  of  his  sister,  the  dowager  Duch- 
ess of  Burgundy.  At  first  they  raised  against 
him  a  young  baker,  who  passed  himself  for  the 

*  Thierry,  Hist,  dela  ConquSte  de  1'Angleterre  paries  Normands, vol. 
i.,  2d  edit. 


80  SUMMARY    OF 

Earl  of  Warwick,  son  of  the  Duke  of  Clarence. 
Henry  having  defeated  the  partisans  of  the  impos- 
tor at  the  battle  of  Stoke,  employed  him  as  a  scull- 
ion in  his  kitchen,  and  soon  after,  as  a  reward 
for  his  good  conduct,  he  gave  him  the  charge  of 
his  falconry.  A  more  formidable  rival  afterward 
raised  himself  against  him.  This  mysterious  per- 
sonage, who  resembled  Edward  IV.,  took  the  name 
of  the  second  son  of  that  prince.  The  Duchess  of 
Burgundy  acknowledged  him  for  her  nephew,  after 
a  solemn  examination,  and  publicly  named  him 
The  White  Rose  of  England.  Charles  VIII.  treat- 
ed him  as  a  king.  James  III.,  king  of  Scotland, 
gave  him  one  of  his  relatives  in  marriage,  but  his 
attempts  were  unsuccessful.  He  successively  in- 
vaded Ireland,  the  north  of  England,  the  county 
of  Cornwall,  and  was  always  repulsed.  The  in- 
habitants of  this  county,  deceived  in  the  hopes 
which  they  had  formed  at  the  accession  of  a  prince 
from  the  Welsh  race,  refused  to  expose  themselves 
for  the  Pretender.  He  was,  notwithstanding  his 
pretensions,  made  prisoner,  and  was  compelled  to 
read  in  Westminster  Hall  a  confession  signed  by 
his  own  hand  ;  in  it  he  acknowledged  that  he  was 
born  at  Tournay,  of  a  Jewish  family,  and  that  his 
name  was  Perkin  Warbeck.  Another  impostor, 
having  assumed  the  name  of  the  Earl  of  Warwick, 
Henry  VII.,  to  terminate  all  these  troubles,  had 


MODERN    HISTORY.  81 

the  true  Earl  of  Warwick  put  to  death :  an  unfortu- 
nate prince,  whose  birth  was  his  only  crime,  and 
who,  from  his  earliest  years,  had  been  shut  up  in 
the  Tower  of  London. 

English  Aristocracy. — Such  was  the  end  of  the 
troubles  which  had  cost  so  much  blood  to  England. 
Who  was  conquered  in  this  long  contest  ?  Neither 
York  nor  Lancaster,  but  the  English  aristocracy, 
who  were  decimated  by  battles  and  wasted  by 
proscription.  Nearly  a  fifth  of  the  estates  in  the 
kingdom  (if  we  may  believe  Fortescue)  had  fallen 
by  confiscation  into  the  hands  of  Henry  VII.  What 
was  still  more  fatal  to  the  power  of  the  nobles, 
was  the  law  which  permitted  them  to  make  over 
their  estates  by  breaking  the  entails.  The  increas- 
ing want  of  luxuries,  until  then  unknown,  made 
them  eagerly  avail  themselves  of  that  permission 
which  was  to  bring  on  their  own  ruin.  To  re- 
side at  court,  they  quitted  their  ancient  castles, 
where  they  had  reigned  as  sovereigns  since  the 
conquest.  They  discontinued  those  sumptuous 
entertainments  and  that  hospitality  by  which  they 
had  so  long  retained  the  fidelity  of  their  vassals. 
The  men  of  the  barons  found  the  court-hall  and  the 
banquet-room  deserted ;  they  abandoned  those  who 
abandoned  them,  and  returned  to  their  homes  king's 
men. — (Abolition  of  the  Law  of  Maintenance.) 

Reign  of  Henry  VII. — The  first  care  of  Henry 


82  SUMMARY    OF 

VII. ,  during  all  his  reign,  was  the  accumulation 
of  a  treasury ;  one  could  rely  so  little  upon  the  fu- 
ture after  so  many  revolutions  !  The  exacting  of 
feudal  debts,  the  redeeming  of  feudal  services., 
fines,  confiscations — all  means  were  good  to  him 
to  attain  his  end.  He  obtained  money  from  his  Par- 
liament to  make  war  against  France,  and  he  pro- 
cured money  from  the  French  to  purchase  peace, 
thus  gaining  from  his  subjects  by  war,  and  from  his 
enemies  by  peace. — (Bacon.) 

He  sought  also  to  support  his  throne  by  alliances 
with  the  best-established  dynasties — gave  his 
daughter  to  the  King  of  Scotland,  and  obtained  for 
his  son  the  infant  of  Spain  (1502-3).  In  his 
reign  navigation  and  industry  received  their  first 
impulse.  He  sent  a  Venitian,  Sebastian  Cabot, 
in  search  of  new  countries,  who  discovered  North 
America,  1498.  He  granted  to  several  cities  the 
exemption  from  a  law  which  forbade  a  father  to 
place  his  son  in  apprenticeship  unless  he  had  an 
income  of  twenty  shillings  from  real  estate.  Thus, 
at  the  moment  when  Henry  VII.  is  establishing 
the  unbounded  power  of  the  Tudors  upon  the 
downfall  of  the  nobility,  we  see  the  beginning  of 
the  rise  of  that  Commons  which,  in  a  century  and 
a  half,  will  overthrow  the  Stuarts. 

Scotland. — The  time  was  still  far  distant  in 
which  the  other  kingdom  of  Great  Britain  would 


MODERN    HISTORY.  83 

become  as  regularly  organized.  Scotland  con- 
tained many  more  elements  of  discord  than  Eng- 
land. First,  its  mountainous  country  had  made  it 
more  easy  to  resist  the  conquered  races.  The 
sovereignty  of  the  Lowlanders  over  the  Highland- 
ers, of  the  Saxons  over  the  Celts,*  was  purely  nom- 
inal. The  latter  scarcely  knew  any  sovereigns 
but  the  hereditary  chiefs  of  their  clans.  The  prin- 
cipal of  these  chiefs,  the  Earl  of  Ross,  the  Lord 
of  the  Isles,  was,  with  respect  to  the  kings  of  Scot- 
land, considered  more  as  a  tributary  sovereign  than 
as  a  subject.  He  was  the  secret  or  avowed  friend 
of  all  the  enemies  of  the  king  5  the  ally  of  England 
against  Scotland,  and  of  Douglas  against  the  Stu- 
arts. The  first  princes  of  this  dynasty  spared  the 
Highlanders,  from  want  of  power  to  subdue  them ; 
James  I.  expressly  exempted  them  from  obeying 
any  law,  " seeing"  said  he,  " that  their  custom  is 
to  rob  and  kill  each  other.1^  Thus  English  civil- 
ization, which  was  gradually  pervading  Scotland, 
was  arrested  at  the  Grampian  Hills. 

Douglas. — The  lords  and  barons  to  the  south  of 
these  mountains  were  indefatigable  adversaries  to 
the  royal  authority,  particularly  the  Lords  Douglas  ; 
this  heroic  family  had  disputed  the  throne  with 

*  The  mountaineers  always  call  the  other  Scots  Saxons. 
t  Pinkerton,  Hist,  of  Scotland,  from  the  accession  of  the  house  of 
Stuart  to  that  of  Mary,  with  appendices  of  original  papers. 


84  SUMMARY    OF 

the  Stuarts  ever  since  their  accession  to  the  dy- 
nasty, and  had  since  gone  to  combat  with  the  Eng- 
lish in  France,  and  had  returned  with  the  title  of 
Counts  of  Touraine,  as  a  trophy  of  their  victory. 
In  the  family  of  the  Stuarts  even,  the  kings  of 
Scotland  had  rivals  ;  their  brothers  or  their  neph- 
ews, the  Dukes  of  Albany,  governed  in  their  names, 
and  harassed  them  with  their  ambitious  pretensions. 
If  to  these  troubles  we  add  the  singular  circum- 
stance of  a  succession  of  six  minorities  (1437- 
1578),  we  can  comprehend  why  Scotland  was  the 
last  kingdom  to  emerge  from  the  anarchy  of  the 
Middle  Ages. 

After  the  French  wars,  the  contest  against  the 
Douglases  became  more  terrible,  and  the  kings 
displayed  more  of  violence  than  of  ability  in  it. 
Under  James  II.,  William  Douglas  was  enticed  by 
Chancellor  Crichton  to  the  castle  of  Edinburgh, 
and  after  some  pretended  form  of  justice,  was  con- 
demned to  death  (1440).  Another  William  Doug- 
las, the  most  insolent  of  all  that  bore  the  name, 
having  been  summoned  by  the  same  prince  to  Stir- 
ling, provoked  him  to  the  utmost  by  his  outrageous 
language,  and  was  stabbed  by  his  own  hand  (1452). 
His  brother,  James  Douglas,  marched  against  the 
king  at  the  head  of  40,000  men,  compelled  him  to 
fly  into  the  North,  and  would  have  conquered  him 
if  he  had  not  insulted  the  Hamiltons,  who  were. 


MODERN    HISTORY.  85 

until  then,  attached  to  his  family.  Douglas,  de- 
serted by  his  own  party,  was  obliged  to  fly  into 
England,  and  the  war  of  the  Roses  just  beginning, 
prevented  the  English  from  making  use  of  this 
dangerous  exile  to  embroil  Scotland.  The  earls 
of  Angus,  a  branch  of  the  house  of  Douglas,  re- 
ceived him,  and  were  scarcely  less  formidable  to 
the  kings  than  the  Earl  of  Douglas  himself.  Soon 
after  the  Hamiltons  also  rebelled,  and  became, 
with  the  Campbells  (earls  of  Argyle),  the  most 
powerful  lords  of  Scotland  in  the  sixteenth  and 
seventeenth  centuries. 

James  III.,  1460. — In  the  reign  of  James  III., 
Scotland  extended  her  territories  towards  the  north 
and  the  south  by  the  acquisition  of  the  Orcades 
and  of  Berwick ;  the  reunion  of  the  earldom  of 
Ross  to  the  crown  destroyed  forever  the  powei 
of  the  Lord  of  the  Isles,  and  yet  no  reign  was  ever 
more  disgraceful ;  no  prince  ever  shocked  the 
opinions  and  customs  of  his  subjects  as  did  James 
III.  What  Scottish  laird  would  deign  to  obey  a 
king  who,  a  stranger  to  the  warlike  amusements 
of  the  nobility,  was  always  concealed  in  a  strong 
castle,  surrounded  by  English  artists,  and  deciding 
upon  peace  and  war  after  the  counsel  of  a  music- 
master,  a  mason,  and  a  tailor  ?  He  had  gone  so 
far  as  to  forbid  the  nobles  to  appear  armed  at  his 
court,  as  if  he  was  afraid  to  see  a  sword. 
H 


86  SUMMARY   OF 

Still,  he  might  have  been  supported  against  the 
nobility  by  the  commons  or  the  clergy;  but  he 
estranged  them  both,  by  taking  from  the  boroughs 
the  election  of  their  aldermen,  and  from  the  clergy 
the  nomination  of  their  dignitaries. 

His  death,  1488. — James  III.,  who  knew  his 
own  weakness,  feared  that  his  two  brothers,  the 
Duke  of  Albany  and  the  Earl  of  Mar,  might  wish 
to  supplant  a  king  so  deservedly  despised.  Influ- 
enced by  the  prediction  of  an  astrologer,  he  deci- 
ded to  imprison  them  in  the  castle  of  Edinburgh. 
The  Duke  of  Albany  saved  himself;  the  cowardly 
and  base  monarch  thought  to  secure  his  repose  by 
causing  his  younger  brother  to  be  bled  to  death. 
The  favourites  triumphed ;  Cochrane,  the  mason 
and  architect,  dared  to  take  the  spoils  of  his  vic- 
tim, and  to  assume  the  title  of  the  Earl  of  Mar. 
Such  was  his  confidence  in  the  future,  that,  in  put- 
ting some  base  money  in  circulation,  he  said,  "  Be- 
fore my  money  shall  be  withdrawn,  I  shall  be 
hung,"  and  thus  it  was.  The  nobles  seized  the 
favourites  in  the  presence  of  the  king,  and  hanged 
them  on  the  bridge  of  Lawder.  Some  time  after, 
they  attacked  the  king  himself,  and  formed  the 
most  extensive  conspiracy  that  had  ever  threaten- 
ed the  throne  of  Scotland  (1488).  The  barons  of 
the  North  and  of  the  West  still  retained  their  loy- 
alty, but  James  fled  at  the  first  encounter,  and  fell 


MODERN   HISTORY.  87 

from  his  horse  into  a*  stream  of  water.  He  was 
carried  into  a  neighbouring  mill,  and  asked  for  a 
confessor ;  the  priest  who  presented  himself  be- 
longed to  the  enemy's  party ;  he  received  the  con- 
fession of  the  king,  and  then  stabbed  him. 

James  IV. — His  death,  1513. — James  IV.,  whom 
the  malecontents  raised  to  the  throne,  had  a  hap- 
pier reign  than  his  father.  Instead  of  the  humble 
duty  of  subjects  to  a  king,  the  barons  rendered 
homage  to  him,  as  the  most  brilliant  knight  of  the 
kingdom.  He  completed  the  ruin  of  the  Lord  of 
the  Isles  by  uniting  the  Hebrides  to  the  crown  ;  he 
established  courts  of  royal  justice  throughout  all 
the  northern  part  of  the  kingdom.  Neglected  by 
the  French,  James  IV.  allied  himself  to  the  king 
of  England,  Henry  VII.  When  Henry  VIII.  in- 
vaded France,  Louis  XII.  implored  the  assistance 
of  the  Scotch ;  Anne  of  Brittany  sent  her  ring  to 
their  king,  thus  designating  him  for  her  knight. 
James  would  have  accused  himself  of  disloyalty, 
had  he  not  succoured  a  suppliant  queen.  All  the 
lords  and  all  the  barons  of  Scotland  followed  him 
on  this  romantic  expedition.  But  he  lost  much 
valuable  time  in  the  castle  of  Mrs.  Heron,  near 
Flodden,  where  he  remained  as  if  from  enchant- 
ment, which  was  only  broken  by  the  arrival  of  the 
English  army.  He  was  conquered,  notwithstand- 
ing his  bravery,  and  all  of  his  nobility  were  slain 


88 


SUMMARY    OF 


with  him  (1513).  The  death  of  twelve  counts, 
of  thirteen  lords,  of  five  eldest  sons  of  peers,  with 
a  great  number  of  barons,  and  ten  thousund  sol- 
diers, delivered  up  Scotland,  drained  and  exhausted 
for  a  century,  to  the  intrigues  of  France  and  of 
England. 

§  III.  SPAIN  AND  PORTUGAL,  1454-1521. 

Henry  IV.,  King-  of  Castile,  1454 ;  Revolt  of  the  Grandees  in  the  Name 
of  the  Infant ;  Deposition  of  Henry  ;  Battle  of  Medina  del  Campo,  1465. 
— John  II.,  King  of  Aragon  ;  Revolt  of  Catalonia,  1462-72. — Marriage 
of  Ferdinand  of  Aragon  and  Isabella  of  Castile,  1469.— War  against 
the  Moors  ;  Taking  of  Grenada,  1481-92.— Ferdinand  and  Isabella  re- 
press the  Grandees  and  the  Cities,  relying  on  the  Aid  of  the  Inquisition, 
established  in  1480.— Expulsion  of  the  Jews,  1492.— Forced  Conver- 
sion of  the  Moors,  1499.— Death  of  Isabella,  1504.— Ministry  of  Xi- 
menes. — Conquest  of  Navarre,  1512. — Death  of  Ferdinand,  1516. — 
His  Successor,  Charles  of  Austria  ;  Revolt  of  Castile,  Murcia,  &c.f 
Ac.,  1516-1521. 

THE  barbarians  of  the  North  and  South,  the 
Goths  and  Arabs,  encountered  each  other  in  Spain. 
Arrested  by  the  ocean  in  the 'Spanish  Peninsula, 
they  fight  there,  as  in  an  enclosed  field,  during  all 
the  Middle  Ages.  Thus  the  spirit  of  the  Crusades, 
which  transiently  agitated  all  the  other  nations  of 
Europe,  has  formed  the  basis  of  the  Spanish  char- 
acter, with  its  ferocious  intolerance  and  its  chival- 
rous pride  exalted  by  the  violence  of  African  pas- 
sions, for  Spain  sull-ftdket?ed -to ba*ba««»,  notwith- 
standing the  strait  between  them.  On  this  side  we 
again  find  the  productions  and  families  of  Africa, 


MODERN    HISTORY.  89 

and  even  its  deserts.*  A  single  battle  delivered 
up  Spain  to  the  Moors,  and  it  has  required  eight 
hundred  years  to  subdue  their  power. 

Moors — Spaniards. — The  Christians  had  been 
masters  since  the  13th  century;  in  the  15th,  Mus- 
sulman population  concentrated  in  the  kingdom  of 
Grenada,  and,  as  if  bounded  by  the  sea,  could  move 
no  farther ;  but  we  already  see  to  which  of  the  two 
nations  the  empire  of  Spain  belonged ;  on  the  side 
of  the  Moors,  a  crowd  of  merchants,  heaped  to- 
gether in  the  rich  cities,  made  effeminate  by  the 
baths  and  the  climate  ;  peaceable  husbandmen,  em- 
ployed in  their  rich  valleys  with  the  care  of  the 
mulberry-trees,  and  with  the  working  of  silk — a 
lively  and  ingenious  people,  who  lived  only  for  mu- 
sic and  the  dance,  who  loved  gaudy  and  showy 
clothing,  and  were  even  dressed  in  their  gayest 
garments  for  their  graves :  on  the  other  side,  a 
grave  arid  silent  people,  clothed  in  brown  and 
black,  who  loved  nothing  but  war,  and  war  of  the 
most  bloody  kind ;  who  left  commerce  and  the 
sciences  to  the  Jews,  and  knew  not  a  more  excel- 
lent title  than  Sons  of  the  Goths,  a  race  haughty  in 
their  independence,  terrible  in  love  and  in  religion. 

*  There  is  an  adage  in  several  parts  of  Old  Castile,  that  the  lark  that 
would  traverse  the  country,  must  carry  its  grain  with  it. — Bory  de  Saint 
Vincent,  Itineraire,  p.  81.  On  the  sterility  and  feeble  population  of  Ar- 
agon,  even  in  the  Middle  Ages,  see  Blancas,  cited  by  Hallam,  vol.  iv.,  p. 
456. 

H2 


90  SUMMARY    OF 

With  them  there  was  no  distinction  of  rank ;  the 
citizen  did  not  pay  for  his  privileges,  and  the  peas- 
ant, who  also  bore  arms  against  the  Moors,  felt  his 
dignity  as  a  Christian. 

Resistance  to  the  Kings.— These  men,  so  formi- 
dable to  the  enemy,  were  scarcely  less  so  to  their 
kings.  For  a  long  time  the  king  had  only  been  as 
the  chief  of  the  barons  ;  the  King  of  Aragon  some- 
times prosecuted  his  subjects  at  the  tribunal  of  the 
justiza,  or  grand  justiciary  of  the  kingdom.  The 
spirit  of  resistance  in  the  Aragonese  had  passed 
into  a  proverb,  like  the  pride  of  the  Castilians : 
"  Give  a  nail  to  an  Aragon,  and  he  will  drive  it 
with  his  head  sooner  than  with  a  hammer.11  Their 
oath  of  obedience  was  haughty  and  threatening : 
"  We,  who  separately  are  as  great  as  you,  and  who, 
united,  may  be  greater  than  you,  we  make  you  our 
king,  on  condition  that  you  will  guard  our  privileges  ; 
if  you  do  not,  no  /" 

Jews. — The  kings  of  Spain  also  preferred  to  em- 
ploy the  new  Christians,  as  they  called  the  con- 
verted Jews  and  their  children ;  they  were  more 
intelligent,  and  more  submissive.  The  tolerance 
of  the  Moors  had  formerly  drawn  them  into  Spain, 
and  since  the  year  1400  more  than  a  hundred  thou 
sand  Jews  had  been  converted.  They  made  them- 
selves necessary  to  the  king  by  their  skill  and  ad- 
dress in  business,  and  by  their  knowledge  of  med- 


MODERN    HISTORY,  91 

icine  and  of  astrology.  It  was  a  Jew  who,  in 
1468,  performed  the  operation  for  a  cataract  upon 
the  King  of  Aragon.  Commerce  was  in  their 
hands ;  they  had  got  by  usury  all  the  money  of 
the  country,  and  it  was  to  them  that  the  king 
intrusted  the  raising  of  the  taxes.  What  titles  to 
the  hatred  of  the  people  !  That  hatred  broke  out 
several  times  in  a  terrible  manner  in  the  populous 
city  of  Toledo,  of  Segovia,  and  Cordova. 

The  Grandees. — The  grandees,  who  saw  them- 
selves gradually  put  aside  by  the  new  Christians, 
and,  in  general,  by  men  of  inferior  rank,  became 
the  enemies  of  the  royal  authority,  which  they  could 
not  dispose  of  to  their  own  advantage.  The  no- 
bles of  Castile  armed  the  infant  Don  Henry  against 
his  father,  John  II.,  and  had  the  favourite  of  the 
king,  Alvaro  de  Luna,  beheaded.  His  immense 
property  was  confiscated,  and  during  three  days  a 
basin  was  placed  upon  the  scaffold,  near  his  corpse, 
to  receive  the  alms  of  those  who  were  willing  to 
contribute  towards  the  expenses  of  his  burial. 

Henry  IV.,  King  of  Castile,  1454— Battle  of 
Medina  del  Campo,  1465. — When  Henry  IV.  be- 
came king,  he  endeavoured  to  abridge  the  power 
of  the  grandees,  which  they  had  held  since  he 
was  Infant  of  Spain,  but  at  the  same  time  he  irri- 
tated the  cities  by  raising  the  taxes  on  his  own  au- 
thority, and  by  daring  to  nominate  deputies  to  the 


92  SUMMARY   OF 

Cortes.*  He  also  was  made  contemptible  by  his 
connivance  at  the  debaucheries  of  the  queen,  and 
by  his  own  cowardice.  The  Castilians  could  not 
obey  a  prince  who  withdrew  himself  from  the  ar- 
my at  the  moment  of  battle.  The  chief  of  the 
grandees,  Carillo,  archbishop  of  Toledo,  Don  Juan 
de  Pacheco,  marquis  of  Villana,  and  his  brother, 
who  possessed  the  grand-mastership  of  St.  Jago 
and  of  Calatrava,  opposed  to  the  king  his  brother, 
Don  Alonzo,  who  was  still  a  child,  and  declared  il- 
legitimate the  Infanta  Donna  Juana,  who  was  be- 
lieved to  be  the  daughter  of  Bertrand  la  Cueva,the 
lover  of  the  queen  ;  they  exposed  the  effigy  of  Hen- 
ry upon  a  throne  in  the  plain  of  Avila,  and  having 
stripped  it  of  the  royal  ornaments,  threw  it  down, 
to  put  Don  Alonzo  in  its  place.  After  an  indeci- 
sive battle  (Medina  del  Campo,  1465),  the  unhap- 
py king,  deserted  by  every  one,  wandered  at  ran- 
dom in  his  own  kingdom,  in  the  midst  of  castles  and 
cities,  which  shut  their  gates  against  him,  with- 
out any  person  condescending  to  arrest  him.  One 
evening,  after  a  journey  of  eighteen  leagues,  he 
ventured  to  enter  the  city  of  Toledo  ;  the  alarm  bell 
was  sounded,  he  was  obliged  to  fly,  and  riot  one 
of  the  horsemen  who  were  with  him  would  even 
lend  him  a  horse. 

John   II.  of  Aragon.  —  Aragon   and   Navarre 

*  Mariana,  Teoria  de  las  Cortes,  cited  by  HalJam,  vol.  i.,  p.  416-424. 


MODERN    HISTORY.  93 

were  not  more  tranquil.  John  II.,  who  had  suc- 
ceeded his  brother,  Alphonso  the  Magnanimous, 
inthe  kingdoms  of  Aragon  and  Sicily,  withheld 
from  his  own  son,  Don  Carlos  de  Viarra,  the  crown 
of  Navarre,  which  this  young  prince  inherited  from 
his  mother  (since  1441).  His  stepmother  excited 
the  father  against  his  son  for  the  advantage  of 
her  own  children  (Ferdinand  the  Catholic,  and 
Leonora,  countess  of  Fpoix).  The  never-ending 
factions  of  Navarre,  the  Beaumonts,  and  the  Gram- 
monts,  prosecuted  their  private  quarrels  under  the 
name  of  the  two  princes.  Twice  was  the  cause  of 
justice  vanquished  in  a  pitched  battle  ;  twice  did  the 
indignation  of  Don  Juan's  subjects  force  him  to  set 
at  liberty  his  unhappy  son.  Don  Carlos  having 
died  from  poison  or  grief  (1461),  his  sister,  Donna 
Blanca,  inherited  his  rights.  Her  father  intrusted 
her  to  her  younger  sister  Leonora,  who  poisoned 
her  in  the  castle  of  Orthey.  Catalonia  was  already 
in  rebellion ;  the  horror  of  this  double  parricide 
gave  a  new  excitement  to  their  minds ;  the  Cata- 
lonians,  who  could  not  have  Don  Carlos  for  their 
king,  now  worshipped  him  as  a  saint.  They  call- 
ed to  the  throne,  successively,  the  King  of  Castile, 
the  Infant  of  Portugal,  and  John  of  Calabria,  and 
they  only  submitted  themselves  after  ten  years  of 
resistance  (1472). 

Ferdinand  and  Isabella,   1469-1479.-— During 


94  SUMMARY    OF 

the  period  in  which  John  II.  was  hazarding  Cata- 
lonia, Ferdinand,  his  son,  had  gained  Castile.  The 
brother  of  Henry  IV.  being  dead,  the  grandees  had 
substituted  in  his  place  his  sister  Isabella.  To  sup- 
port her  against  the  king,  they  married  her  to  the 
Infant  of  Aragon,  who  was,  after  her,  the  nearest 
heir  to  the  throne  (1469).  Henry  IV.  soon  died, 
in  consequence  of  an  entertainment  given  to  him 
by  his  reconciled  enemies  (1474).  When  dying, 
he  affirmed  that  Donna  Juana  was  his  legitimate 
daughter.  Galicia,  and  all  the  country  from  To- 
ledo as  far  as  Murcia,  had  declared  themselves 
for  her.  The  King  of  Portugal,  her  uncle,  Alphonso 
the  African,  was  betrothed  to  her,  and  came  with 
his  knights,  who  had  conquered  Arzila  and  Tan- 
gier, to  support  her  cause.  The  Portuguese  and 
Castilians  met  for  battle  at  Toro  (1476).  The 
Portuguese  were  vanquished,  and  the  arms  of  Al- 
meida, which  were  borne  upon  their  standard,  were 
hung  in  the  Cathedral  of  Toledo.  This  check  suf- 
ficed to  discourage  the  Portuguese  ;  all  the  Castil- 
ian  lords  ranged  themselves  on  the  side  of  Ferdi- 
nand and  Isabella ;  the  crown  of  Castile  was  secured 
to  them,  and  the  death  of  John  II.,  who  left  Ara- 
gon to  them  (1479),  enabled  them  to  turn  all  the 
forces  of  Christian  Spain  against  the  Moors  of 
Grenada. 

1481-1492. — It  was  a  common  saying  among 


MODERN    HISTORY.  95 

the  Moors,  that  the  fatal  termination  of  their  do- 
minions in  Spain  had  arrived.  A  Fakir  troubled 
Grenada  with  his  ominous  predictions  :  they  were 
sufficiently  warranted  by  the  state  of  the  king- 
dom. Already,  under  Henry  IV.,  Gibraltar  had 
been  lost.  Some  cities,  strongly  situated,  but  with- 
out ditches,  having  no  exterior  fortifications,  and 
defended  only  by  a  wall,  the  thickness  of  which 
could  afford  no  protection ;  a  brilliant  cavalry, 
prompt  to  charge  or  to  fly ;  such  were  the  resources 
of  the  people  of  Grenada.  They  could  riot  rely 
upon  Africa.  The  time  was  past  when  hordes  of 
the  Almohades  and  the  Almoravides  were  able  to 
overwhelm  the  Peninsula.  The  only  aid  which 
the  Sultan  of  Egypt  afforded  them,  was  to  send  the 
guardian  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  to  Ferdinand  to 
speak  to  him  in  their  favour,  but  he  was  soon  drawn 
off  from  this  distant  affair  by  the  fears  which  the 
Ottomans  inspired. 

Taking  of  Grenada,  1492. — Although  the  Chris- 
tians and  the  Moors,  every  year  alternately,  infest- 
ed the  country  of  their  enemy,  burning  the  vines, 
olives,  and  orange-trees,  a  singular  agreement  ex- 
isted between  them :  the  truce  was  not  to  be  con- . 
sidered  as  broken,  even  if  one  of  the  two  parties 
should  have  captured  a  city  or  a  town,  provided  it 
was  taken  possession  of  without  the  form  of  war, 
without  banners  and  trumpets,  and  in  less  than 


96  SUMMARY  OF 

three  days.  Zahara,  which  had  been  obtained  in 
this  manner  by  the  Moors,  was  the  pretext  for  the 
war.  The  Spaniards  invaded  the  kingdom  of  Gre- 
nada, encouraged  by  their  beautiful  queen,  whom 
alone  the  Castilians  would  obey.  In  this  army  we 
already  see  the  future  conquerors  of  Barbary  and  of 
Naples,  Pedro  of  Navarre,  and  Gonsalvo  of  Cor- 
dova. In  the  course  of  eleven  years,  the  Christians 
became  masters  of  Alhama,  the  bulwark  of  Grena- 
da ;  took  Malaga,  which  was  the  entrep&t  of  the 
commerce  of  Spain  with  Africa,  and  Baca,  which, 
it  is  said,  contained  one  hundred  and  fifty  thou- 
sand inhabitants ;  and  at  last  came,  with  eighty 
thousand  men,  to  lay  siege  to  Grenada  itself.  This 
capital  was  a  prey  to  the  most  furious  discords. 
The  son  was  armed  against  his  father,  and  brother 
against  brother.  Bobadil  and  his  uncle  had  divi- 
ded the  remains  of  this  expiring  sovereignty ;  the 
uncle  sold  his  share  to  the  Spaniards  for  a  rich 
earldom.  Bobadil,  who  was  an  acknowledged 
vassal  of  Ferdinand,  remained ;  but,  instead  of 
directing  the  people,  he  followed  the  example  of 
their  obstinate  fury.  The  siege  lasted  nine  months. 
A  Moor  attempted  to  stab  Ferdinand  and  Isabella ; 
the  camp  was  entirely  destroyed  by  fire  ;  but  the 
queen,  whom  no  event  discouraged,  ordered  a  city 
to  be  built  in  its  place,  and  the  town  of  Santa  Fe, 
erected  in  twenty-four  days,  proved  to  the  Mussul- 


MODERN    HISTORY.  97 

men  that  the  siege  would  never  be  raised.*  At 
last  the  Moors  opened  their  gates,  upon  the  assu- 
rance that  they  should  retain  judges  of  their  own 
nation,  and  the  free  enjoyment  of  their  religion 
(1492). 

Columbus. — In  the  same  year  Christopher  Co- 
lumbus gave  a  world  to  Spain. f 

The  kingdoms  of  Spain  were  reunited  with  the 
exception  of  Navarre,  the  sure  prey  of  two.  great 
monarchies,  between  which  nature  herself  seemed 
to  have  divided  it  in  advance.  But  it  was  neces- 
sary that  parts  drawn  together  by  force  should 
of  themselves  form  one  body.  The  Castilians  re- 
garded the  Aragonese  with  a  jealous  eye ;  they 
both  saw  continual  enemies  in  the  Moors,  and  in 
the  Jews,  who  lived  in  the  midst  of  them.  Every 
city  had  its  immunities,  every  grandee  his  prerog- 
atives. All  these  obstacles  must  be  overcome, 
these  heterogeneous  forces  must  be  assimilated,  be- 
fore they  could  be  turned  towards  conquest.  Not- 
withstanding the  ability  of  Ferdinand,  notwith- 
standing the  enthusiasm  which  Isabella  inspired, 
this  end  was  attained  only  after  thirty  years  of  ef- 
fort. The  means  were  terrible,  commensurate  with 
the  energy  of  such  a  people ;  the  price  was  the 
dominion  of  two  worlds  in  the  16th  century. 

*  Petri  Martyris  Angleri  Epistolze,  73,  91,  &c.  The  author  was  an 
eyewitness  of  these  events.  t  Epitaph  of  Columbus. 

*  I 


98  SUMMARY   OF 

Cortes — Santa  Hermandad. — The  Spanish  Cor- 
tes, which  alone  were  competent  to  regulate  these 
conflicting  elements,  were  the  most  ancient  assem- 
blies of  Europe  ;  but  establishments  formed  in  the 
anarchy  of  the  Middle  Ages  had  not  that  organiza- 
tion which  alone  could  ensure  their  permanency.  la 
1480,  only  seventeen  cities  of  Castile  were  repre- 
sented ;  in  1520,  not  a  deputy  was  sent  to  the  Cortes 
from  Galicia.  Those  of  Guadalaxara  alone  voted  for 
400  boroughs  or  cities.  It  was  nearly  the  same  in 
Aragon.  The  rivalry  of  the  cities  perpetuated  this 
abuse;  in  1506  and  1512  the  privileged  cities  of 
Castile  repelled  the  claims  of  the  others.  Thus, 
to  retain  his  power,  Ferdinand  had  only  to  leave 
the  field  open  to  these  rival  pretensions.  He  ob- 
tained by  the  Holy  Brotherhood  of  the  cities  (San- 
ta Hermandad),  and  by  the  revolt  of  the  vassals,  the 
submission  of  the  grandees ;  by  the  grandees,  the 
submission  of  the  cities ;  and  by  the  Inquisition, 
the  obedience  of  them  both.*  The  violence  of  the 
grandees  determined  Saragossa  to  allow  him  to 
change  her  ancient  municipal  constitutions,  a  thing 
which  she  had  always  forbidden.  The  organiza- 
tion of  the  St.  Hermandad,  or  Holy  Brotherhood  of' 
the  cities  of  Aragon,  which  would  have  terminated 
the  private  wars  of  the  lords,  was  arrested  by  them 
(1488),  and  the  king  was  compelled,  in  the  Cortes 
of  1495,  to  postpone  its  establishment  for  ten  years  ; 

*  In  Galicia  alone  he  destroyed  forty-six  rnotlea. 


MODERN    HISTORY.  99 

but  the  people  of  Saragossa  were  so  irritated  at  this, 
that,  during  a  long  time,  the  justiza  of  Aragon,  who 
were  not  willing  to  take  the  oath  of  the  Brother- 
hood, did  not  dare  enter  the  city.  Henceforth 
royalty  was  to  inherit  a  great  portion  of  the  at- 
tachment of  the  people  for  that  very  magistracy 
which  had  so  long  been  considered  the  rampart 
of  the  public  liberties  against  the  encroachments 
of  kings. 

Yet  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  would  never  have 
acquired  absolute  power,  if  the  necessities  of  the 
crown  had  left  them  dependant  upon  the  Cortes. 
They  twice  revoked  the  concessions  of  Henry 
IV. — concessions  by  which  they  themselves  had 
purchased  the  submission  of  the  grandees  (1480- 
1506).  The  union  of  the  three  grand-masteries  of 
Alcantra,  of  Calatrava,  and  of  St.  Jago,  to  their 
dominions,  which  they  had  the  address  to  make 
the  knights  yield  to  them,  gave  them  at  once  an 
army  and  immense  wealth  (1493, 1494).  At  a  la- 
ter period,  the  kings  of  Spain  having  obtained  per- 
mission from  the  pope  to  sell  the  Bull  of  the  Cru- 
sade, and  the  benefice  of  bishoprics  (1508-1522), 
they  became  the  richest  sovereigns  of  Europe,  even 
before  they  had  drawn  any  considerable  sum  from 
America. 

Portugal. — It  was  by  similar  means  that  the 
kings  of  Portugal  established  their  power.  They 


100  SUMMARY    OF 

arrogated  to  themselves  the  privileges  of  the  orders 
of  Avis,  of  Saint  Jago,  and  of  Christ,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  placing  the  nobility  in  a  state  of  depend- 
anee  upon  them.  In  a  similar  diet  (at  Evora,  1482), 
John  II.,  successor  to  Alphonso  the  African,  re- 
voked the  grants  of  his  predecessors,  took  from  the 
lords  their  power  over  life  and  death,  and  placed 
their  domains  under  the  royal  jurisdiction.  The 
indignant  nobility  appointed  the  Duke  of  Braganza 
for  their  chief,  who  called  upon  the  Castilians  to 
aid  them ;  the  king  had  him  tried  by  a  commis- 
sion, and  beheaded ;  the  Duke  of  Vizen,  the  first 
cousin  of  Don  Juan,  and  his  brother-in-law,  also 
conspired  against  the  king,  and  the  monarch  stab- 
bed him  with  his  own  hand. 

Inquisition  in  Spain. — But  what  ensured  the  tri- 
umph of  absolute  power  in  Spain  was  its  reliance 
upon  that  religious  zeal,  which  was  the  national 
trait  of  the  Spanish  character.  The  kings  leagued 
themselves  with  the  Inquisition,  that  great  and  pow- 
erful hierarchy,  the  more  terrible  as  it  united  the 
regular  power  of  political  authority  with  the  vio- 
lence of  religious  passions.  The  establishment  of 
the  Inquisition  met  with  the  greatest  opposition  from 
the  Aragonese.  Less  in  contact  with  the  Moors 
than  the  Castilians,  they  were  less  exasperated 
against  them :  the  greater  part  of  the  members  of 
the  government  of  Aragon  were  descended  from 


MODERN   HISTORY.  101 

Jewish  families.  They  remonstrated  earnestly 
against  the  secret  proceedings,  and  against  the  con- 
fiscations, which,  they  said,  were  contrary  to  the 
&eros  of  the  kingdom.  They  even  assassinated 
'one  of  the  Inquisitors,  in  hope  of  frightening  the 
*rest.  But  the  new  establishment  was  too  conform- 
able to  the  religious  ideas  of  the  greater  part  of 
the  Spaniards  not  to  withstand  these  attacks.  The 
title  of  Familiar  of  the  Inquisition,  which  secured 
exemption  from  municipal  duties,  was  so  much 
sought  after,  that  in  certain  cities  these  privileged 
men  exceeded  in  number  the  other  inhabitants,  and 
the  Cortes  were  obliged  to  keep  them  in  order.* 

*  Inscription  placed  by  the  Inquisitors,  a  short  time  after  the  establish- 
ment of  the  Inquisition,  upon  the  castle  of  Triana,  in  a  suburb  of  Seville  : 
"  Sanctum  Inquisitionis  officium  contrd  haereticorumpravitateminHispa- 
niae  regnis  initiatum  est  Hispali,  anno  1481,  &c.,  <fec.  Generalis  Inquisitor 
primus  fuit  Fr.  Thomas  de  Torquemada.  Faxit  Deus  ut  in  augmentum 
fidei  usque  saeculis  permaneat,  &c.,  &c.  Exsurge,  Domine  ;  judica  cau- 
sam  tuam.  Capite  nobis  vulpes."  Another  inscription,  placed  in  1524  by 
the  Inquisitors  on  their  house  at  Seville  :  "  Anno  Domini  1481,  sacrem 
Inquisitionis  officium  contra  haereticos  Judaizantes  ad  fidei  exaltationem, 
hie  exordium  sumpsit ;  ubi,post  Judaeorum  ac  Saracenorum  expulsionem 
ad  annum  usque  1524,  divo  Carolo,  <fec.,  <fcc.,  regnante,  &c.,  &c.,  vigin- 
ti  millia  hcereticorum  et  ultra  nefandum  haereseos  crimen  adjurarunt ; 
nee  non  hominum  fere  millia  in  suis  haeresibus  obstinatorum  posted  jure 
praevioignibus  tradita sunt  et  combusta.  Domini  nostri  imperatoris  jus- 
su  et  impensis  licentiatus  de  La  Cueva  poni  jussit,  A.D.  1524." 

It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  many  of  the  popes  condemned  the  rigour 
of  the  Inquisition  of  Spain.  Since  1445,  Nicholas  V.  had  forbidden  any 
difference  to  be  made  between  the  old  and  new  Christians.  Sixtus  IV., 
Innocent  VIII.,  and  Leo  X.  kindly  received  the  numerous  appeals  which 
were  made  to  their  tribunals,  and  reminded  the  Spanish  Inquisitors  of 
the  parable  of  the  good  shepherd.  In  1546,  when  Charles  the  Fifth 

12 


102  SUMMARY    OF 

Expulsion  of  the  Jews,  1492.  —  After  the  con- 
quest of  Grenada,  the  Inquisition  no  longer  limit- 
ed itself  to  the  prosecution  of  individuals.  An  or- 
der was  proclaimed  against  all  Jews,  commanding 
them  either  to  become  converts  within  four  months, 
or  to  depart  from  Spain,  taking  neither  gold  nor  sil- 
ver with  them  (1492).  One  hundred  and  seventy 
thousand  families,  forming  a  population  of  eight  hun- 
dred thousand  souls,  sold  their  effects  in  haste,  and 
fled  into  Portugal,  to  Italy,  Africa,  and  as  far  as  the 
Levant.  They  were  then  seen  to  give  a  house  in  ex- 
change for  an  ass,  and  a  vineyard  for  a  piece  ofHn- 
en  or  cloth.  An  historian  of  the  age  relates,  that 
he  saw  a  crowd  of  these  unhappy  beings  land  in 
Italy,  and  die  of  famine  and  penury  near  the  Mole 
of  Genoa,  the  only  place  in  that  city  where  they 
were  permitted  to  rest  for  some  days. 

Inquisition  in  Portugal,  1526. — The  Jews  who 
had  retired  into  Portugal,  were  only  received  there 
by  paying  eight  crowns  of  gold  for  each  person ; 
they  were  also  obliged  to  depart  from  the  kingdom 
within  an  appointed  time,  under  the  penalty  of  be- 
coming slaves,  a  penalty  which  was  most  rigorous- 
ly enforced,  and  yet  it  is  said  that  the  first  Jews 
who  arrived  wrote  to  their  brethren  in  Spain, "  The 

wished  to  introduce  the  Inquisition  into  Naples,  Paul  the  Third  encour- 
aged the  resistance  of  the  Neapolitans,  reproaching  the  Inquisition  of 
Spain  for  not  profiting  by  the  examples  of  mildness  which  that  of  Rome 
had  given  them. 


MODERN    HISTORY.  103 

land  is  goodj  the  people  are  simple,  and  we  have  wa- 
ter ;  you  may  come,  for  all  will  belong  to  us."  Don 
Manuel,  the  successor  of  Don  Juan,  emancipated 
all  those  who  had  been  made  slaves.  But  in  1496 
he  commanded  them  to  depart  from  the  kingdom, 
leaving  their  children  under  fourteen  years  of  age  ; 
the  greater  part  preferred  to  receive  baptism,  and 
in  1507  Manuel  abolished  the  distinction  between 
the  old  and  new  Christians.  The  Inquisition  was 
established  at  Lisbon  in  1526,  and  from  thence  ex- 
tended itself  as  far  as  the  East  Indies,  where  the 
Portuguese  had  landed  in  1498.  (See  below.) 

Moors  of  Grenada. — Seven  years  after  the  ex- 
pulsion of  the  Jews  (1499-1501),  the  King  of 
Spain  undertook,  by  means  not  less  violent,  to  con- 
vert the  Moors  of  Grenada,  to  whom  the  capitula- 
tion guarantied  the  free  exercise  of  their  religion. 
Those  of  the  Albaydin  (the  most  elevated  part  of 
Grenada)  revolted  first,  and  were  followed  by  the 
savage  inhabitants  of  Alpuxarros.  The  Gandules 
of  Africa  came  to  support  them,  and  the  king,  hav- 
ing found  the  difficulty  of  reducing  them,  furnish- 
ed vessels  to  those  who  were  willing  to  go  to  Afri- 
ca ;  the  greater  part,  however,  remained,  pretend- 
ing to  become  Christians. 

Death  of  Isabella,  1504 — Ximenes. — The  reduc- 
tion of  the  Moors  was  followed  by  the  conquest  of 
Naples  (1501-1503),  and  the  death  of  Isabella 


104  SUMMARY    OF 

(1504).  This  great  queen  was  adored  by  the  peo- 
ple of  Castile,  whose  noble  character  she  so  well 
represented,*  and  whose  independence  she  had  de- 
fended against  her  husband.  At  her  death  the 
Castilians  had  but  a  choice  among  foreign  masters. 
They  must  obey  either  the  King  of  Aragon  or  the 
Archduke  of  Austria,  Philip  le  Beau,  sovereign  of 
the  Low  Countries,  who  had  espoused  Donna  Ju- 
ana,  the  daughter  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  heir- 
ess to  the  kingdom  of  Castile.  Such  was  their  an- 
tipathy against  the  Aragonese,  and  particularly 
against  Ferdinand,  that,  notwithstanding  all  his  in- 
trigues to  obtain  the  regency,  they  joined  them- 
selves to  the  archduke,  as  soon  as  he  landed  in 
Spain.  At  first  the  conduct  of  Philip  was  popular ; 
he  arrested  the  violence  of  the  Inquisition,  which 
was  ready  to  excite  a  general  insurrection,  but  he 
deposed  all  the  corregidors,  and  all  the  governors 
of  cities,  to  give  their  places  to  his  own  Flem- 
ings ;  finally,  he  had  Donna  Juana  confined  as 

*  The  principal  part  of  the  glory  of  this  reign  must  be  attributed  to 
Queen  Isabella.  She  evinced  the  greatest  courage  during  the  vicissi- 
tudes of  her  youth :  when  Ferdinand  fled  from  Segovia,  she  undauntedly 
remained  there  ;  she  would  guard  the  Alhama,  at  the  gates  of  Grenada, 
when  her  most  valiant  officers  proposed  a  retreat  She  consented  re- 
luctantly to  the  establishment  of  the  Inquisition.  She  loved  literature, 
and  aided  its  advancement ;  she  understood  Latin,  while  Ferdinand  could 
scarcely  sign  his  name.  Notwithstanding  the  objections  of  Ferdinand, 
she  armed  the  fleet  which  discovered  America.  She  defended  the  accu 
sed  Columbus,  consoled  Gcmsalva  de  Cordova  in  his  disgrace,  and  gav« 
liberty  to  the  unhappy  Americans. 


MODERN    HISTORY.  105 

insane,  whose  feeble  reason  was  unsettled  by  jeal- 
ousy. Philip  soon  died  (1506).  Yet  Ferdinand 
would  not  have  been  able  to  govern  Castile,  had  he 
not  been  supported  by  the  confessor  and  minister 
of  Isabella,  the  celebrated  Ximenes  de  Cisneros, 
archbishop  of  Toledo,  in  whom  the  Castilians  ad- 
mired both  the  politician  and  the  saint.  He  was 
a  poor  monk,  whom  the  Archbishop  of  Grenada 
had  given  to  Isabella  for  her  confessor  and  coun- 
sellor. Great  was  the  astonishment  of  the  court 
when  this  man  of  the  desert  appeared  there,  whose 
paleness  and  austerity  reminded  them  of  Paul  and 
Hilarion.  Even  in  the  midst  of  grandeur  he  rig- 
orously observed  the  rules  prescribed  by  St.  Fran- 
cis, travelling  on  foot,  and  begging  for  his  daily 
nourishment.  It  was  necessary  to  have  an  order 
from  the  pope  to  oblige  him  to  accept  the  Arch- 
bishopric of  Toledo,  and  to  force  him  to  live  in  a 
manner  appropriate  to  the  opulence  of  the  richest 
benefice  in  Spain.  He  yielded,  allowing  himself 
to  wear  the  most  valuable  furs,  but  they  only  cov- 
ered the  coarsest  stuffs  ;  he  ornamented  his  apart- 
ments with  magnificent  beds,  while  he  continued 
to  sleep  on  the  floor.  In  this  humble  and  austere 
life  he  retained  the  haughty  dignity  of  the  Spanish 
character,  which  was  visible  in  all  his  actions  ;  the 
nobles  whom  he  had  crushed  could  not  repress 
their  admiration  of  his  courage.  An  ordinance 


106  SUMMARY    OF 

which  was  about  to  set  Ferdinand  and  his  son-in- 
law  at  variance,  Ximenes  dared  to  tear  in  pieces. 
One  day,  as  he  was  crossing  a  place  during  a  bull- 
fight, the  infuriated  animal  broke  loose  and  wound- 

O         ' 

ed  some  of  his  attendants,  without  making  him 
quicken  his  pace. 

Moors  of  Africa — Navarre. — The  Castihans, 
thus  finding  in  Ximenes  the  heroic  spirit  of  their 
great  queen,  forgot  that  they  obeyed  Ferdinand, 
and  the  last  years  of  this  prince  were  marked  by 
the  conquest  of  Barbary  and  Navarre.  The  war 
with  the  Moors  did  not  seem  ended,  inasmuch  as 
those  of  Africa,  being  strengthened  by  a  multitude 
of  fugitives,  infested  the  coasts  of  Spain,  and  found 
a  sure  refuge  in  the  ports  of  Oran,  of  Penon  de 
Velez,  and  in  many  other  haunts.  Ximenes  pro- 
jected an  expedition  against  Oran,  defrayed  its  ex- 
pense, and  conducted  it  in  person.  The  capture 
of  that  city  by  Pedro  of  Navarre,  of  which  he  was 
an  eyewitness,  was  followed  by  that  of  Tripoli,  and 
by  the  subjection  of  Algiers,  of  Tunis,  and  of  Fre- 
mecen  (1509-1510).  Two  years  after,  the  reunion 
of  Navarre,  which  Ferdinand  had  taken  by  force 
from  John  of  Albret,  completed  that  of  all  the  king- 
doms of  Spain  (1512).  Leonora,  countess  of 
Foix,  had  a  month's  enjoyment  of  this  throne, 
which  she  had  bought  with  her  sister's  blood. 
After  the  death  of  her  son  Phebus,  the  hand  of 


MODERN    HISTORY.  107- 

Catharine,  her  daughter,  which  had  been  solicited 
in  vain  for  the  Infant  of  Spain,  was  given  by  the 
French  party  to  John  of  Albret,  that  her  domains 
of  Foix,  Perigord,  and  Limoges  might  always  be 
attached  to  France.  As  soon  as  the  two  great 
powers  which  were  struggling  in  Italy  came  in 
close  contact  with  each  other,  Navarre,  from  her 
geographical  position,  found  herself  divided  be- 
tween Ferdinand  and  Louis  XII. 

Ximenes  was  80  years  old  when  the  dying 
king  named  him  for  regent  until  his  grandson, 
Charles  of  Austria,  should  arrive  (1516).  He  con- 
fronted with  equal  boldness  enemies  from  without 
and  within.  He  prevented  the  French  from  con- 
quering Navarre  by  means  as  novel  as  they  were 
daring :  he  had  the  walls  of  all  the  cities  pulled 
down,  except  Pampeluna,  and  thus  removed  every 
stronghold,  in  case  of  an  invasion.  At  the  same 
time,  he  formed  a  national  militia,  made  himself 
sure  of  the  cities  by  giving  to  them  the  power 
to  levy  the  taxes  themselves  (Gomecius,  f.  25), 
and  revoked  the  concessions  which  the  late  king 
h-ad  made  to  the  grandees.  When  the  latter  came 
to  claim  those  grants,  and  expressed  some  doubts* 
as  to  the  powers  which  had  been  given  him, 
Ximenes  answered,  pointing  from  a  balcony  to  a 
formidable  train  of  artillery, "  You  see  my  powers  !" 

Charles  V.  King,  1516.— The  Flemings  gave 


108  SUMMAEY    OF 

offence  to  Spain  from  the  moment  of  their  arrival. 
They  disgraced  the  dying  Ximenes,  and  nominated 
a  stranger,  a  youth  of  twenty  years,  to  replace  him 
in  the  first  seat  of  the  kingdom.  They  established 
a  tarif  of  all  the  offices,  and  if  we  may  thus  speak, 
put  up  Spain  at  auction.  Charles  assumed  the 
title  of  king  without  waiting  for  the  consent  of  the 
Cortes,  He  convoked  the  Cortes  of  Castile  at 
some  small  place  in  Galicia,  and  demanded  a 
second  subsidy  before  they  had  paid  the  first; 
he  procured  it  by  force  or  bribery,  and  departed 
to  take  possession  of  the  imperial  crown,  without 
disquieting  himself,  though  he  left  a  revolution  be- 
hind him.  Toledo  had  refused  to  send  delegates 
to  these  Cortes ;  Segovia  and  Zamora  put  their 
deputies  to  death,  and  such  was  the  horror  they 
inspired,  that  there  was  not  a  person  willing  to 
plunder  their  houses,  or  to  pollute  themselves  with 
the  wealth  of  the  traitors.  In  the  mean  time,  the 
evil  was  disseminated  over  all  Spain.  Castile,  and 
all  of  Galicia,  Murcia,  and  the  greater  part  of  the 
cities  of  Leon  and  Estremadura,  were  in  rebell- 
ion. The  insurrection  was  not  less  furious  in 
Valencia,  but  it  bore  a  different  character.  The 
inhabitants  had  sworn  a  Hermandad  against  the 
nobles,  and  Charles,  discontented  with  the  noble, 
had  the  imprudence  to  confirm  it.  Majorca  follow- 
ed the  example  of  Valencia,  and  was  even  willing 


MODERN    HISTORY.  109 

to  surrender  herself  to  the  French.  In  these  two 
kingdoms  the  woollen-drapers  were  at  the  head  of 
the  Hermandad. 

John  of  Padilla. — The  Communeros  first  inva- 
ded Tordesillas,  where  the  mother  of  Charles  V. 
resided,  and  performed  all  their  acts  in  the  name 
of  that  princess.  But  their  success  was  of  short 
duration.  They  had  demanded,  in  their  remon- 
strances, that  the  lands  of  the  nobles  might  be 
subject  to  taxes.  The  nobles  abandoned  a 
party  whose  victory  would  have  been  prejudicial 
to  them.  There  was  no  union  between  the  cities 
themselves.  The  old  rivalry  of  Burgos  and  To- 
ledo revived :  the  former  submitted  to  the  king, 
who  secured  to  the  city  its  commercial  freedom. 
The  only  hope  of  relief  for  the  distracted  Commu- 
neros rested  in  the  French  army,  which  had  in- 
vaded Navarre  ;  but  before  they  could  effect  a  junc- 
tion with  it,  they  were  overtaken  by  the  Leaks, 
and  entirely  defeated  (1521).  Don  Juan  of  Pa- 
dilla, the  hero  of  the  Revolution,  sought  death  in 
the  ranks  of  the  enemy ;  but  he  was  dismounted, 
wounded,  taken  prisoner,  and  beheaded  the  next 
day.  Before  his  death,  he  sent  to  his  wife,  D. 
Maria  Pacheca,  the  relics  which  he  wore  round 
his  neck,  and  wrote  his  celebrated  letter  to  the 
city  of  Toledo:  "To  thee,  the  crown  of  Spain, 
and  the  light  of  the  world ;  to  thee,  who  hast  been 
K 


110  SUMMARY    OP 

free  from  the  time  of  the  Goths,  and  who  hast 
given  thy  blood  to  secure  thy  liberty  and  that  of 
the  adjacent  cities,  thy  legitimate  son,  John  of 
Padilla,  makes  known,  that  by  the  blood  of  his 
body  thine  ancient  victories  are  about  to  be  re- 
vived, and  renewed,"  &c.,  &c.  The  subjection 
of  Castile  was  followed  by  that  of  the  kingdom  of 
Valencia,  and  of  all  the  rebellious  provinces.  But 
Charles  V.,  instructed  by  such  a  lesson,  respected 
thenceforth  the  pride  of  the  Spaniards ;  he  affected 
to  speak  their  language,  resided  much  among  them, 
and  preserved  in  this  heroic  nation  the  instrument 
with  which  he  hoped  to  subdue  the  world. 


CHAPTER  III J 

THE  EAST  AND  THE  NORTH.  — GERMAN  AND  SCAN- 
DINAVIAN STATES  IN  THE  SECOND  PART  OF  THE 
FIFTEENTH  CENTURY. 

Empire  of  Germany. — Preponderance  and  interested  Policy  of  Austria. — 
Rise  of  Switzerland.— Decline  of  the  Teutonic  Order.— Cities  of  the 
Rhine,  and  of  Swabia. — Preponderance  and  Decline  of  the  Hanseatic 
League. — Elevation  of  Holland. — Wars  of  Denmark,  Sweden,  and 
Norway, — Enfranchisement  of  Sweden,  1433-1520. 

German  States. — If  we  consult  the  analogy  of 
customs  and  of  languages,  we  must  include  in 
the  number  of  the  Germanic  States  the  Empire 


MODERN   HISTORY.  Ill 

Switzerland,  the  Netherlands,  the  three  kingdoms 
of  the  North,  and  even  England  in  several  re- 
spects ;  but  the  political  relations  of  the  Nether- 
lands and  of  England  with  France  have  obliged 
us  to  place  the  history  of  those  powers  in  a  pre- 
ceding chapter. 

Germany. — Germany  is  not  only  the  centre  of 
the  Germanic  System ;  it  is  a  small  Europe  in  the 
midst  of  the  great  one,  where  the  varieties  of  popula- 
tion and  of  territory  present  themselves  with  a  less 
decided  diversity.  We  there  find,  in  the  15th  cen- 
tury, all  forms  of  government,  from  the  hereditary, 
or  elective  principalities  of  Saxony  and  Cologne, 
to  the  democracies  of  Uri  and  Underwaldt;  from 
the  commercial  oligarchy  of  Lubeck,  to  the  mili- 
tary aristocracy  of  the  Teutonic  Order. 

This  singular  body  of  the  empire,  whose  mem- 
bers were  so  heterogeneous  and  so  unequal,  and 
whose  head  was  so  powerless,  seemed  always 
ready  to  fall  to  pieces.  The  cities,  the  nobility, 
the  greater  part  of  the  princes  even,  were  almost 
strangers  to  an  emperor  whom  the  electors  alone 
had  chosen.  Yet  a  common  origin  and  language 
have  maintained  the  unity  of  the  Germanic  body 
during  centuries ;  add  to  this  the  need  of  mutual 
support,  the  fear  of  the  Turks,  of  Charles  V.,  and 
Louis  XIV. 

This  empire  always  remembered  that 
^i 


112  SUMMARY    OF 

it  had  governed  Europe,  and  from  time  to  time  re- 
sumed its  rights  in  empty  proclamations.  The  most 
powerful  prince  of  the  15th  century,  Charles  the 
Bold,  had  appeared  to  acknowledge  them,  by  so- 
liciting the  royal  dignity  from  the  Emperor  Fred- 
eric. These  superannuated  pretensions  might  be- 
come formidable,  since  the  imperial  crown  had 
been  settled  upon  the  house  of  Austria  (1438). 
Placed  between  Germany,  Italy,  and  Hungary,  in 
the  very  centre  of  Europe,  Austria  must  prevail 
over  the  last  two  countries,  at  least  by  the  spirit 
of  perseverance  and  of  obstinacy ;  unite  with  this 
that  policy,  more  ingenious  than  heroic,  which  by 
means  of  a  succession  of  marriages  gave  to  the 
house  of  Austria  the  price  of  the  blood  of  other 
nations,  and  subjected  to  it  the  conquerors  with 
their  conquests  ;  she  thus  gained  on  the  one  side 
Hungary  and  Bohemia  (1526),  on  the  other  the 
Netherlands  (1481),  and  by  the  Netherlands  Spain, 
Naples,  and  America  (1506-1516),  and  by  Spain, 
Portugal  and  the  East  Indies  (1581). 

Imperial  Power  in  the  House  of  Austria. — To- 
wards the  end  of  the  15th  century,  the  imperial 
power  was  so  fallen,  that  the  princes  of  the  house 
of  Austria  often  forgot  that  they  were  emperors, 
while  occupying  themselves  only  with  the  inter- 
ests of  their  hereditary  estates.  Nothing  drew 
their  attention  from  this  policy,  which  must,  soon- 


MODERN    HISTORY.  M3 

er  or  later,  restore  to  them  the  imperial  power  it- 
self. Thus  Frederic  III.,  who  was  always  beat- 
en by  the  Elector  Palatine,  or  by  the  King  of 
Hungary,  was  deaf  to  the  cries  of  Europe,  which 
was  alarmed  by  the  progress  of  the  Turks.  But 
he  erected  Austria  into  an  archduchy,  and  attached 
the  interests  of  his  house  to  those  of  the  popes,  by 
sacrificing  to  Nicholas  V.  the  pragmatic  of  Augs- 
burgh ;  he  married  his  son  Maximilian  to  the 
heiress  of  the  Low  Countries  (1481).  Maximilian 
himself  became,  by  his  insignificance  and  his  pov- 
erty, the  derision  of  Europe,  travelling  constantly 
from  Switzerland  to  the  Low  Countries,  and  from 
Italy  to  Germany  ;  imprisoned  by  the  inhabitants 
of  Bruges,  beaten  by  the  Venitians,  and  accurately 
noting  his  affronts  in  his  red-book.  But  he  inherit- 
ed the  States  of  Tyrol,  of  Goritz,  and  part  of  Ba- 
varia. His  son  Philip  le  Beau,  sovereign  of  the 
Netherlands,  married  the  heiress  of  Spain  (1496) ; 
one  of  his  grandsons  (treaty  of  1515)  was  to  marry 
the  sister  of  the  King  of  Bohemia  and  of  Hungary. 
Constitution  of  the  Empire,  1495-1501.— While 
the  house  of  Austria  thus  prepares  its  future  gran- 
deur, the  empire  endeavours  to  regulate  its  consti- 
tution. The  Imperial  Chamber,  henceforth  a  per- 
manent body  (1493),  must  put  a  stop  to  private 
wars,  and  must  substitute  a  government  of  laws 
for  that  state  of  nature  which  still  prevails  among 
K2 


114  SUMMARY    OF 

the  members  of  the  Germanic  body.  The  division 
of  the  parties  will  facilitate  the  exercise  of  this  ju- 
risdiction. A  regency  is  destined  to  watch  over  it, 
and  supply  the  place  of  the  emperor  (1500).  The 
electors  refuse  for  a  long  time  to  enter  into  this 
new  organization.  The  emperor  opposes  the 
Aulic  Council  to  the  Imperial  Chamber  (1501),  and 
these  salutary  institutions  are  thus  weakened  in 
their  infancy. 

This  absence  of  order,  this  want  of  protection, 
had  successively  obliged  the  most  distant  subjects 
of  the  empire  to  form  confederacies,  more  or  less 
independent,  or  to  seek  for  foreign  support.  Such 
was  the  situation  of  Switzerland,  of  the  Teutonic 
Order,  the  Confederation  of  the  Rhine  and  of  Swa- 
bia,  and  of  the  Hanseatic  League. 

Prussia. — In  the  same  epoch,  we  see  the  rise 
of  Switzerland  and  the  decline  of  the  Teutonic 
Order.  The  second  of  these  two  military  powers, 
a  sort  of  vanguard,  which  the  martial  genius  of 
Germany  had  carried  even  to  the  centre  of  the  Sla- 
vonic States,  was  obliged  to  surrender  to  the  King 
of  Poland  that  Prussia  which  the  Teutonic  knights 
had  conquered  and  Christianized  two  centuries  be- 
fore (treaty  of  Thorn,  1466). 

Switzerland. — Switzerland,  separated  from  the 
Empire  by  the  victory  of  Morgarten  and  by  the 
league  of  Brunnen,  had  confirmed  its  liberty  by 


MODERN    HISTORY.  115 

the  defeat  of  Charles  the  Bold,  which  taught  to 
feudal  Europe  the  power  of  infantry.  The  alli- 
ance of  the  Orisons,  the  acquisition  of  five  new 
cantons  (Soleure,  Basle,  Schaffhausen,  Appenzell, 
Fribourg,  1481-1513),  had  raised  Switzerland  to 
the  summit  of  grandeur.  The  citizens  of  Berne 
and  the  shepherds  of  Uri  saw  themselves  caressed 
by  popes  and  courted  by  kings.  Louis  XL  sub- 
stituted a  Swiss  guard  in  place  of  the  free  archers 
(1480).  In  the  wars  of  Italy,  they  formed  the  best 
part  of  the  infantry  of  Charles  VIII.  and  of  Louis 
XII.  From  the  time  that  they  crossed  the  Alps  in 
the  train  of  the  French,  they  were  welcomed  by 
the  pope,  who  opposed  them  to  the  French  them- 
selves, and  they  governed  for  a  moment  in  the 
north  of  Italy  (under  the  name  of  Maximilian 
Sforza).  After  their  defeat  at  Marignan  (1515), 
religious  discords  armed  them  against  each  other, 
and  confined  them  closely  to  their  mountains. 

The  two  commercial  powers  of  Germany  did 
not  form  a  body  sufficiently  compact  to  imitate  the 
example  of  Switzerland,  and  render  themselves  in- 
dependent. 

Cities  of  the  Rhine  and  of  Swabia. — The  league 
of  the  cities  of  the  Rhine  and  of  Swabia  was 
composed  of  rich  towns,  among  which  those  of 
Nuremberg,  of  Ratisbon,  of  Augsburg,  and  of 
Spire  held  the  first  rank.  These  are  the  cities 


116  SUMMARY    OF 

which  carried  on  the  principal  trade  by  land  be- 
tween the  North  and  the  South.  The  merchan- 
dise, arrived  at  Cologne,  passed  through  the  hands 
of  the  Hanseatics,  who  distributed  it  in  all  North- 
ern Europe.  "<  r^Lftp/fc  jymW  .€^A^Xj 

Hanseatic  League.  —  The  Hanseatic  League, 
composed  of  twenty-four  cities,  comprised  all  the 
northern  shores  of  Germany,  and  extended  over 
those  of  the  Netherlands.  Until  the  sixteenth 
century  it  was  the  predominant  power  of  the 
North.  The  great  Hall  of  Lubeck,  where  the  gen- 
eral assemblies  of  the  Hanseatics  were  held,  still 
attests  the  power  of  these  sovereigns.  They  had 
united  by  innumerable  canals  the  ocean,  the  Bal- 
tic, and  the  greater  part  of  the  rivers  in  the  north 
of  Germany ;  but  their  principal  commerce  was 
maritime.  The  Hanseatic  counting-houses  in  Lon- 
don, in  Bruges,  in  Bergen,  and  in  Novogorod  were 
in  many  respects  similar  to  the  factories  of  the 
Venitians,  and  of  the  Genoese  in  the  Levant :  they 
resembled  a  garrison.  The  clerks  in  them  were 
not  permitted  to  marry,  for  fear  that  they  might  in- 
struct the  natives  in  commerce  and  the  arts.* 
They  were  only  received  into  the  offices  after 
some  cruel  trials,  which  guarantied  their  courage, 
and  business  was  almost  everywhere  transacted 

*  See  Mallet,  Histoire  de  la  Ligue  Hanscatique,  Genoa  (1805).    Tfce 
author  has  often  been  indebted  to  the  labours  of  Sartonus. 


MODERN    HISTORY.  117 

with  arms  in  their  hands.  If  the  agents  of  the 
Hanseatics  carried  to  Novogorod  or  to  London 
some  Flemish  cloth  which  was  too  coarse,  too 
narrow,  or  too  dear,  the  people  rebelled,  and  often 
assassinated  some  of  them.  Then  the  merchants 
threatened  to  leave  the  city,  and  the  alarmed  in- 
habitants yielded  everything.  The  inhabitants  of 
Bruges  having  killed  some  of  the  Hanseatic  men, 
the  latter  exacted  as  a  condition  of  the  re-establish- 
ment of  their  office  in  that  city,  that  several  of  the 
citizens  should  make  Tamende  honorable,  and  that 
others  should  go  on  a  pilgrimage  to  St.  James  of 
Compostella  and  to  Jerusalem.  The  most  terrible 
punishment  which  the  Hanseatics  could  inflict  on 
any  country  was  never  to  return  to  it.  When 
they  had  no  establishment  in  Sweden,  the  inhabi- 
tants were  in  want  of  cloth,  of  hops,  of  salt,  and  of 
herrings  ;  in  the  revolutions,  the  Swedish  peasant 
always  was  in  favour  of  those  who  furnished  him 
with  herrings  and  with  salt.  The  Hanse  Towns 
also  exacted  excessive  privileges ;  in  the  greater 
part  of  the  seaport  towns  in  Sweden,  at  least  one 
half  of  the  offices  were  occupied  by  them. 

Yet  this  great  power  did  not  rest  upon  a  solid 
basis.  The  long  line  occupied  by  the  Hanse 
Towns  from  Livonia  to  the  Low  Countries  was 
narrow  throughout,  and  everywhere  intersected  by 
foreign  states  or  by  enemies.  The  cities  which 


118  SUMMARY    OF 

composed  it  had  different  interests  and  unequal 
rights  ;  some  were  allies,  some  proteges,  and  some 
subjects.  Their  commerce  even,  the  source  of 
their  existence,  was  precarious.  Being  neither 
agriculturists  nor  manufacturers,  they  could  only 
transport  and  sell  foreign  produce,  and  they  were 
dependant  upon  a  thousand  accidents,  political  or 
natural,  which  no  foresight  could  prevent.  For 
instance,  the  herrings,  which  about  the  fourteenth 
century  had  left  the  coasts  of  Pomerania  for  those 
of  Scandinavia,  commenced  in  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury to  emigrate  from  the  shores  of  the  Baltic 
towards  those  of  the  Northern  Ocean.  The  sub- 
jection of  Novogorod,  and  of  Plescow  also,  to  the 
Czar  Iwan  III.  (1477),  and  the  capture  of  Bruges 
by  the  imperial  army  (about  1489),  closed  the  two 
principal  sources  of  their  riches  to  the  Hanseatics. 
At  the  same  time,  the  progress  of  public  order  ren- 
dered the  protection  of  the  Hanse  Towns  useless  to 
a  great  number  of  the  Continental  cities,  particular. 
ly  since  the  constitution  of  the  empire  was  estab- 
lished (1495).  The  cities  of  the  Rhine  had  never 
been  willing  to  unite  with  them  ;  Cologne,  which 
had  entered  into  their  league,  separated  from  them, 
and  asked  the  protection  of  Flanders.  The  Hol- 
landers, whose  commerce  and  industry  had  grown 
up  under  the  shade  of  the  Hanse  Towns,  had  no  lon- 
ger need  of  them  when  they  became  the  subjects 


MODERN    HISTORY.  119 

of  the  powerful  houses  of  Burgundy  and  of  Austria, 
and  began  to  dispute  with  them  the  monopoly  of 
the  Baltic.  At  once  agriculturists,  manufacturers, 
and  tradesmen,  they  had  the  advantage  over  a 
power  entirely  commercial.  The  Hanseatics,  to 
defend  their  commercial  interests  against  these 
dangerous  rivals,  were  obliged  to  interpose  in  all 
the  revolutions  of  the  North. 

Denmark — Sweden — Norway. — Christianity  and 
civilization  having  passed  from  Germany  into  Den- 
mark, and  from  thence  into  Sweden  and  Norway, 
preserved  to  Denmark  for  a  long  time  the  prepon- 
derance over  the  two  other  states.     The  Swedish 
and  Norwegian  bishops  were  the  most  powerful 
lords  of  those  countries,  and  they  were  equally  de- 
voted to  the  Danes  ;  but  the  kings  of  Denmark  could 
only  avail   themselves  of  that  preponderance  by 
continual  efforts  and  by  frequent  concessions  to  the 
Danish  nobles,  which  placed  them  in  a  state  of  de- 
pendance  upon  them  :  these  concessions  were  only 
made  at  the  expense  of  royal  authority  and  of  the 
liberty  of  the  peasants,  which  by  degrees  sunk  into 
slavery.     In  Sweden,  on  the  contrary,  the  peasants 
were  not  far  below  the  ancient  liberty  of  the. Scan- 
dinavian nation,  and  they  formed  even  a  political 
order.     This  difference  in  its  constitution  explains 
the  force  with  which  Sweden  shook  off  the  yoke 
of  the  Danes.     With  regard  to  the  Norwegians, 


120  SUMMARY  OP 

whether  the  clergy  had  more  influence  among 
them  than  among  the  Swedes,  or  that  they  feared 
to  obey  Sweden,  still  they  generally  showed  less 
repugnance  to  the  Danish  dominion. 

Revolutions  of  the  North,  1453-1520.  —  The 
celebrated  union  of  Calmar,  which  seemed  to  prom- 
ise so  much  of  glory  and  of  power  to  the  three 
kingdoms  of  the  North,  had  only  made  Sweden 
and  Denmark  subject  to  the  yoke  of  the  Danish 
and  German^  pri*t*fr>  by  whom  they  were  sur- 
rounded. The  revolution  of  1433,  like  that  of  1521, 
commenced  among  the  peasants  of  Dalecarlia ; 
Englebrecht  was  its  Gustavus  Vasa,  and,  like  him, 
was  supported  by  the  Hanse  Towns,  whose  mo- 
nopoly the  King  of  Denmark  (Eric,  the  Pomeranian 
nephew  of  Margaret  of  Waldemar)  combated  by 
favouring  the  Hollanders.  The  union  was  re-es- 
tablished for  some  time  by  Christophe  the  Bavarian, 
the  king  of  bark,  as  the  Swedes  called  him,  from  his 
having  been  obliged  to  subsist  on  the  bark  of  a  tree  ; 
but  after  his  death  (1448)  they  expelled  the  Danes, 
and  the  Germans  put  themselves  under  the  domin- 
ion of  Charles  Canutson,  marshal  of  the  kingdom, 
and  refused  to  acknowledge  the  new  king  of  Den- 
mark and  Norway,  Christian,  the  first  of  the  house 
of  Oldenburg  (from  whence  came,  by  the  branch 
of  Holstein  Gottorp,  the  last  dynasty  of  Sweden, 
and  the  present  imperial  house  of  Russia).  The 


MODERN    HISTORY.  121 

Danes,  strengthened  by  the  reunion  of  Sleswick 
and  Hoistein  (1459),  twice  re-established  their 
authority  over  Sweden,  with  the  aid  of  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Upsal  (1457-1465),  and  were  twice  ex- 
pelled by  the  party  of  the  nobility  and  the  people. 

At  the  death  of  Charles  Canutson  in  1470,  Swe- 
den appointed  successively  for  administrators  three 
lords  of  the  name  of  Sture  (Stenon,  Swante,  and 
Stenon).  They  were  supported  by  the  husband- 
men, whom  they  recalled  to.  the  Senate.  They 
fought  with  the  Danes  before  Stockholm  (1471), 
and  took  from  them  the  famous  banner  of  Dane- 
brog,  which  they  regarded  as  the  palladium  of  the 
monarchy.  They  founded  the  University  of  Upsa- 
la  at  the  same  time  that  the  King  of  Denmark  insti- 
tuted that  of  Copenhagen  (1477-1478).  In  fine, 
if  we  except  a  short  period,  during  which  Sweden 
was  obliged  to  acknowledge  John  II.  successor  to 
Christian  I.,  they  preserved  its  independence  until 
1520. 

L 


122  SUMMARY  OF 


CHAPTER  IV. 

EAST  AND  NORTH — SLAVONIC  STATES  AND  TUR- 
KEY IN  THE  SECOND  PART  OF  THE  FIFTEENTH 
CENTURY. 

Progress  of  the  Turks,  1411-1582.— Podiebrad,  King  of  Bohemia;  Mat- 
thias Corwin,  King  of  Hungary,  1458.— Wladislas,  of  Poland,  reunites 
Hungary  and  Bohemia. —  Poland  under  the  Jagelkms,  1386-1506. — 
Contest  of  Russia  with  the  Tartars,  the  Lithuanians,  and  the  Livo- 
nians,  1462-1505. 

Slavonic  States. — The  conquest  of  the  Grecian 
Empire  by  the  Ottoman  Turks  may  be  considered 
as  the  last  invasion  of  the  barbarians,  and  the  ter- 
mination of  the  Middle  Ages.  It  was  a  nation  of 
Slavonic  origin/situate|.  on^the  route  of  the  bar- 
barians of  Asia)  who  shut  therrL  out  from  Europe, 
or  at  least  that  arrested  them  by  powerful  diver- 
sions. Russia,  which  had  already  exhausted  the 
fury  of  the  Tartars  in  the  fourteenth  century,  again 
becomes  formidable  to  them  under  I  wan  III. 
(1462).  A  first  league,  composed  of  Hungarians, 
Wallachians,  and  Moldavians,  is  formed,  like  a  re- 
serve of  the  Christian  army,  to  protect  Germany 
and  Poland  against  the  invasion  of  the  Turks. 
Poland,  with  no  enemies  in  her  rear,  has  just  sub- 


MODERN   HISTORY.  123 

dued  Prussia,  and  penetrated  to  the  Baltic  (1454- 
1466). 

Causes  of  the  Progress  of  Turkey.  —  I.  The 
following  causes  explain  the  rapid  progress  of 
the  Ottoman  conquest  during  the  fifteenth  centu- 
ry :  1st,  their  fanatical  and  military  spirit ;  2d. 
their  disciplined  troops,  opposed  to  the  feudal 
militia  of  the  Europeans,  and  to  the  cavalry  of  the 
Persians  and  the  Mamelukes  ;  the  appointment  of 
janizaries ;  3d,  the  particular  situation  of  the 
enemies  of  the  Turks  ;  in  the  East,  the  political 
and  religious  feuds  of  Persia,  the  feeble  basis  of 
the  power  of  the  .Mamelukes  ;  in  the  West,  the 
discords  of  the  Christian  world  :  Hungary  pro- 
tects it  on  the  side  of  the  land,  and  Venice  on 
the  side  of  the  sea ;  but  both  are  weakened,  one 
by  the  ambition  of  the  house  of  Austria,  the  other 
by  the  jealousy  of  Italy  and  of  all  Europe ;  the 
inefficient  heroism  of  the  knights  of  Rhodes  arid 
of  the  princes  of^Albanyi  ftl  #•  &sf\  \Q(. 

BajazetIL,  1481. — In  the  first  chapter  we  have 
seen  Mohammed  II.  completing  the  conquest  of  the 
Grecian  Empire,  failing  in  his  invasion  of  Hungary, 
but  seizing  the  sovereignty  of  the  sea,  and  making 
Christendom  tremble.  At  the  accession  of  Bajazet 
to  the  throne  (1481),  the  scene  changed,  and  ter- 
ror seized  the  sultan  :  his  brother  Zizim,  who 
had  disputed  the  throne  with  him,  fled  for  refuge  to 


124  SUMMARY   OF 

the  knights  of  Rhodes,  and  became,  in  the  hands 
of  the  King  of  France,  and  afterward  of  the  pope, 
a  pledge  for  the  West.  Bajazet  paid  considerable 
sums  to  Innocent  VIII.  and  to  Alexander  VI.,  that 
they  might  retain  his  brother  a  prisoner.  This 
unpopular  prince,  who  had  commenced  his  reign  by 
beheading  the  Vizier  Achmet  (the  idol  of  the  jan- 
izaries, the  old  general  of  Mohammed  II.),  was  in- 
fluenced, despite  of  himself,  by  the  military  ardour 
of  the  nation.  The  Turks  first  turned  their  arms 
against  the  Mamelukes  and  the  Persians  ;  defeated 
by  the  Mamelukes  at  Issus,  they  prepared  the  de- 
struction of  the  conquerors  by  depopulating  Cir- 
cassia,  where  the  Mamelukes  recruited. 

After  the  death  of  Zizim,  having  no  longer  a 
civil  war  to  fear,  they  attacked  the  Venitians  in 
Morea,  and  threatened  Italy  (1499-1503)  ;  but 
Hungary,  Bohemia,  and  Poland  put  themselves  in 
motion,  and  the  accession  of  the  Sophis  renewed? 
and  regulated  the  political  rivalry  of  the  Persians 
and  Turks  (1501).  After  this  war,  Bajazet  disaf- 
fected the  Turks  by  a  peace  of  eight  years  ;  he  „ ,^ 
wished  to  abdicate  in  favour  of  his  son  Achmet, 
but  was  dethroned  and  put  to  death  by  his  second 
son  Selim.  The  accession  of  the  new  prince,  the 
most  cruel  and  martial  of  all  the  sultans,  spread 
terror  both  over  the  West  and  the  East  (1512) ; 
no  one  knew  on  whom  he  would  fall  first,  Persia, 
Egypt,  or  Italy. 


MODERN   HISTORY.  125 

Hungary  and  Bohemia.  —  II.  Europe  would 
have  had  nothing  to  fear  from  the  barbarians  if 
Hungary,  united  to  Bohemia  in  a  permanent  way, 
had  held  them  in  sufficient  respect ;  but  the  former 
attacked  the  latter  in  her  independence  and  re- 
ligious creed.  Thus  weakened  by  each  other,  they 
were  fluctuating  in  the  fifteenth  century  between 
the  two  powers,  Slavonic  and  German  (Poland 
and  Austria),  which  surrounded  them.  Reunited, 
from  1453  to  1458,  under  a  German  prince,  again 
for  some  time  separated  and  independent  under 
national  sovereigns  (Bohemia  until  1471,  Hunga- 
ry to  1490),  they  were  once  more  reunited  under 
Polish  princes  until  1526,  the  period  in  which 
they  became  decidedly  subject  to  the  dominion  of 
Austria. 

Podiebrad  and  Matthias  1458. — After  the  reign 
of  Wladislas  of  Austria,  which  was  rendered  illus- 
trious through  the  exploits  of  John  Hunniade, 
George  Podiebrad  seized  the  crown  of  Bohemia,  and 
Matthias  Corvin,the  son  of  Hunniade,  was  chosen 
King  of  Hungary  (1458).  These  two  princes  suc- 
cessfully opposed  the  chimerical  pretensions  of  the 
Emperor  Frederic  III.  Podiebrad,  in  protecting 
the  Hussites,  incurred  the  enmity  of  the  popes. 
Matthias  gained  a  glorious  victory  over  the  Turks, 
and  obtained  the  favour  bf^Paul  II.,  who  offered 
him  the  crown  of  Podiebrad,  his  father-in-law. 
L  2 


126  SUMMARY    OF 

The  latter  objected  to  the  alliance  of  Matthias  with 
the  King  of  Poland,  by  which  he  was  made  to 
acknowledge  the  oldest  son  of  Wladislas  for  his 
successor.  At  the  same  time,  Casimir,  the  brother 
of  Wladislas,  attempted  to  take  the  crown  of  Hun- 
gary from  Mathias  by  force.  Matthias,  thus  pressed 
on  all  sides,  was  obliged  to  renounce  the  conquest 
of  Bohemia,  and  to  content  himself  with  the  prov- 
inces of  Moravia,  Silesia,  and  Lusacia,  which 
should  return  to  Wladislas  if  he  survived  Mathias 
(1475-1478). 

The  King  of  Hungary  compensated  himself  at 
the  expense  of  Austria.  Under  the  pretence  that 
Frederic  III.  had  refused  him  his  daughter,  he 
twice  invaded  his  dominions,. and  kept  possession 
of  them.  With  this  great  prince  the  Christian 
world  lost  its  principal  defender,  and  Hungary  her 
conquests  and  her  political  preponderance  (1490). 
Civilization,  which  he  had  endeavoured  to  intro- 
duce in  this  kingdom,  was  delayed  for  several 
centuries.  We  have  already  mentioned  (chapter 
i.)  what  he  did^  for  literature  and  for  the  arts. 
By  his  Decretum  M&uje,  he  regulated  military  dis- 
cipline, abolished  judicial  combats,  and  forbade  his 
subjects  to  appear  armed  at  the  fairs  and  in  the 
market-places  ;  he  ordered  that  punishment  should 
no  longer  be  extended  to  the  relatives  of  a  criminal, 
that  their  property  should  no  longer  be  conn's- 


MODERN    HISTORY.  127 

cated,  and  that  the  king  should  not  accept  of  mines 
of  gold,  of  salt,  <fec.,  &c.,  without  recompensing  the 
proprietors  of  them. 

Wladislas. — Wladislas  of  Poland,  the  King  of 
Bohemia,  having  been  elected  King  of  Hungary, 
was  attacked  by  his  brother,  John  Albret,  and  by 
Maximilian  of  Austria,  both  of  whom  claimed  that 
crown.  He  appeased  his  brother  by  the  cession 
of  Silesia  (1491),  and  Maximilian,  by  entailing  the 
house  of  Austria  upon  the  kingdom  of  Hungary, 
in  case  he  should  leave  no  male  heirs  (see  1526). 
Under  Wladislas,  and  under  his  son  Louis  II., 
who,  when  yet  a  child,  succeeded  him  in  1516, 
Hungary  was  ravaged  with  impunity  by  the 
Turks. 

Poland.  —  III.  Poland,  reunited  to  Lithuania 
since  1386  by  Wladislas  Jagellon,  the  first  prince 
of  that  dynasty,  was,  in  the  fifteenth  century,  the 
preponderating  power  in  the  Slavonic  States. 
Covered  on  the  side  of  the  Turks  by  Wallachia, 
Moldavia,  and  Transylvania,  the  rival  of  Russia 
for  Lithuania,  of  Austria  for  Hungary  and  Bohe- 
mia, she  contended  with  the  Teutonic  Order  for 
Prussia  and  Livonia.  The  principal  source  of  her 
weakness  was  the  jealousy  of  two  nations  of  dif- 
ferent languages,  who  of  themselves  composed 
the  body  of  the  state.  The  Jagellons,  Lithua- 
nian princes,  would  have  wished  their  country  in- 


128  SUMMARY  OF 

dependent  of  Polish  laws,  and  that  it  might  regain 
Podolia.  The  Poles,  on  the  other  hand,  reproach- 
ed Casimir  IV.  with  passing  the  autumn,  the  win- 
ter, and  the  spring  in  Lithuania. 

Treaty  of  Thorn,  1466.  — Under  Casimir,  the 
second  son  of  Wladislas  Jagellon  (fifth  of  the 
name),  the  Poles  protected  the  serfs  of  Prussia 
against  the  tyranny  of  the  Teutonic  knights,  and 
forced  upon  the  latter  the  treaty  of  Thorn  (1466), 
by  which  the  order  lost  the  western  part  of  Prussia, 
and  became  the  vassal  of  Poland  for  Eastern  Prus- 
sia. Who  at  that  time  would  have  said  that  Prus- 
sia would  some  day  dismember  Poland  1  At  the 
same  time  the  Poles  gave  a  king  to  Bohemia  and 
to  Hungary  (1471-1490).  The  three  brothers  of 
Wladislas,  John  Albret,  Alexander,  and  Sigismund 
I.,  who  were  successively  elected  kings  of  Po- 
land (1492,  1501,  1506),  made  war  against  the 
Wallachians  and  the  Turks,  arid  obtained  brilliant 
advantages  over  the  Russians.  Lithuania,  separa- 
ted from  Poland  at  the  ascension  of  John  Albret  to 
the  throne,  was  definitely  reunited  to  her  by  Alex- 
ander. 

Government  of  Poland. — Towards  the  year  1466, 
the  continuance  of  the  war,  bringing  back  the  same 
wants,  introduced  a  representative  government  into 
Poland  ;  but  the  pride  of  the  nobility,  which  alone 
was  represented  by  its  nuncio,  maintained  the  an- 


MODERN    HISTORY.  129 

archical  forms  of  barbarous  times ;  they  contin- 
ued to  exact  unanimous  consent  in  their  delibera- 
tions. Furthermore,  on  important  occasions,  the 
Poles  remained  faithful  to  their  ancient  customs, 
and  one  could  see,  as  in  the  Middle  Ages,  number- 
less armed  Polish  noblemen  deliberating  in  an 
open  field,  sword  in  hand. 

Russia.  —  IV.  In  the  fifteenth  century,  the  Rus- 
sian population  presents  to  us  three  classes :  the 
children  of  the  Boyards*  (descendants  of  the  con- 
querors) ;  the  free  peasants,  farmers  of  the  for- 
mer, and  whose  condition  was  gradually  approach- 
ing slavery;  and,  finally,  the  slaves. 

The  grand-duchy  of  Moscow  was  constantly 
threatened,  in  the  West  by  the  Lithuanians  and 
the  Livonians,  in  the  East  by  the  Tartars  of  the 
great  horde  of  Kasan  and  of  Astrachan  ;  she  found 
herself  enclosed  by  the  commercial  republics  of 
Novogorod  and  of  Plescow,  and  by  the  principali- 
ties of  Twer,  of  Vereia,  and  of  Rezan.  In  the 
North  many  savage  and  pagan  nations  were  spread 
over  the  country.  The  Muscovite  nation,  though 
still  barbarians,  were  at  least  settled  in  permanent 
abodes,  and  must  destroy  the  wandering  tribes  of 
the  Tartars.  The  grand-duchy,  as  an  hereditary 
state,  must  sooner  or  later  prevail  over  the  elect- 
ive states  of  Poland  and  Livonia. 

*  A  name  given  to  the  Russian  nobles, 


130  SUMMARY    OF 

1462-1505  —  Iwan  III— To  oppose  the  great 
horde,  he  made  an  alliance  with  the  Tartars  of 
Crimea ;  to  oppose  the  Lithuanians,  he  allied  him- 
self with  the  Prince  of  Moldavia  and  Wallachia, 
with  Matthias  Corvin,  and  with  Maximilian.  He 
separated  Plescow  and  Novogorod,  which  could  re- 
sist him  only  by  making  common  cause.  He  weak- 
ened gradually  the  Republic  of  Novogorod,  made 
himself  master  of  it  in  1477,  and  exhausted  it  by 
forcing  its  principal  citizens  away.  Made  power- 
ful by  the  alliance  with  the  Khan  of  Crimea,  he  im- 
posed a  tribute  on  the  Kazanais,  refused  that  which 
his  predecessors  paid  to  the  great  horde,  which 
was  soon  destroyed  by  the  Nogais  Tartars  (1480). 
Iwan  reunited  Twer,  Vereia,  Bostof,  Yaroslof ;  he 
made  war  for  a  long  time  against  the  Lithuanians, 
but  Alexander,  having  reunited  Lithuania  to  Po- 
land, allied  himself  with  the  knights  of  Livonia ; 
and  the  Czar,  who,  since  the  destruction  of  the 
great  horde,  had  cared  less  for  his  allies  of  Mol- 
davia and  Crimea,  lost  all  his  ascendency  ;  he  was 
defeated  at  Plescow  by  Plettemberg,  master  of 
the  knights  qf  Livonia  (1501),  and  the  year  of 
his  death  (1505)  Kasan  revolted  against  the  Rus- 
sians. 

Iwan  IV.  —  Iwan  first  took  the  title  of  Czar. 
Having  obtained  from  the  pope  the  hand  of  Sophia 

Pal$olog«e,  a  refugee  at  Rome,  he  placed  on  his 

' 


MODERN    HISTORY.  131 

arms  the  double  eagle  of  the  Grecian  Empire.  He 
allured,  and  retained  by  force,  Grecian  arid  Italian 
artists.  He  was  the  first  who  assigned  fiefs  to 
the  children  of  the  Boyards,  under  condition  of  a 
military  service  ;  he  introduced  order  in  the  finan- 
ces, established  posts,  united  into  a  code  (1497) 
the  ancient  judicial  institutions,  and  vainly  endeav- 
oured to  distribute  among  the  children  of  the  Boyards 
the  estates  of  the  clergy.  I  wan  had  laid  the 
foundations  of  Iwangorod  in  1492  (where,  later, 
Petersburgh  was  built),  when  the  victories  of  Plet- 
temberg  shut  from  the  Russians  during  two  centu- 
ries the  passage  to  the  Baltic. 


CHAPTER  V. 

FIRST  WARS  OF   ITALY,    1494-1516. 

Louis  the  Moor  calls  for  the  Aid  of  the  French. — Charles  VIII.  invades 
Italy. —League  against  the  French.— Battle  of  Formosa,  1495.— Louis 
XII.  invades  Milan,  1499.— War  with  the  Spaniards  of  Naples.— De- 
feat of  the  French  at  Garigliano,  1503.— Alexander  VI.  and  Cajsar 
Borgia.— Julius  II.— Revolt  of  Genoa  against  Louis  XII.,  1507.— Italy, 
the  Empire,  France,  Hungary,  conspire  against  Venice. — Holy  League 
against  France,  1511-12.— Victories  and  Death  of  Gaston  of  Foix.— 
Bad  Success  of  Louis  XII.,  1512-14.— Francis  I.  invades  Milan.— Bat-  . 
tie  of  Marignan,  1515.— Treaty  of  Noyon,  1516.  • 

WHEN,  in  this  age,  we  traverse  the  maremmes* 
of  Sienna,  and  when  we  find  in  Italy  so  many 

*  Unhealthy  tracts  of  country. 


132  SUMMARY    OF 

other  traces  of  the  wars  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
an  inexpressible  sadness  comes  over  us,  and  we 
execrate  the  barbarians  who  commenced  this  deso- 
lation. This  desert  of  the  maremmes  was  made 
by  a  general  of  Charles  V. ;  these  ruins  of  burned 
palaces  are  the  work  of  the  landsknechts  of  Fran- 
cis I.  ;  these  disfigured  paintings  of  Guillo  Ro- 
mano still  attest  that  the  soldiers  of  the  Constable 
of  Bourbon  had  their  stables  in  the  Vatican.  But 
let  us  not  accuse  our  forefathers  hastily.  The 
wars  of  Italy  were  neither  the  caprice  of  a  king 
nor  of  a  nation.  During  more  than  half  a  century, 
an  irresistible  impulse  had  led  all  the  people  of  the 
West,  as  formerly  those  of  the  North,  beyond  the 
Alps.  Their  calamities  were  almost  as  cruel,  but 
the  result  was  the  same :  the  conquerors  were 
raised  to  the  civilization  of  the  conquered. 

Louis  the  Moor  calls  for  the  Aid  of  the  French. 
— Alarmed  by  the  threats  of  the  King  of  Naples, 
whose  granddaughter  had  married  his  nephew, 
John  Galeas  (see  chap,  i.),  Louis  the  Moor  re- 
solved to  support  his  usurpation  by  the  aid  of  the 
French.  But  he  was  far  from  knowing  what  power 
he  had  drawn  into  Italy.  He  was  himself  seized 
with  astonishment  and  terror  when  he  beheld  (Sep- 
tember, 1494)  this  formidable  army  descending 
from  the  Mount  of  Geneva,  which,  from  the  variety 
of  the  costumes,  arms,  and  languages,  resembled 


MODERN    HISTORY.  133 

an  invasion  of  all  the  nations  of  Europe — French, 
Biscayans,  Bretons,  Swiss,  Germans,  and  even 
Scotch ;  that  invincible  gendarmerie,  those  heavy 
brass  cannons,  which  the  French  had  made  as 
movable  as  their  armies.  A  war  entirely  new 
for  Italy  commenced.  The  ancient  tactics,  which 
in  battle  required  one  squadron  to  follow  another, 
were  at  once  overcome  by  the  impetuosity  of  the 
French,  and  the  calm  courage  of  the  Swiss.  The 
war  was  no  longer  an  affair  of  martial  discipline ; 
it  was  to  be  terrible,  inexorable;  the  conqueror 
understood  not  even  the  prayer  of  the  conquered. 
The  soldiers  of  Charles  VIII.,  full  of  distrust  and 
hatred  towards  a  country  where  they  feared  to  be 
poisoned  at  every  repast,  massacred,  in  regular  or- 
der, every  prisoner.* 

Savonarola. — At  the  approach  of  the  French, 
the  ola  governments  of  Italy  dissolved  themselves. 
Pisa  delivered  herself  from  the  Florentines,  and 
Florence  from  the  Medicis.  Savlnarola  received 
Charles  VIII.  as  the  scourge  from  God,  sent  to 
punish  the  sins  of  Italy.  .^J.!8^11^61  VL»  who, 
until  then,  had  negotiated  at  the  same  time  with 
the  French,  the  Aragonese,  and  the  Turks,  heard 
with  dismay  the  word  of  censure  and  degradation, 
and  concealed  himself  in  the  castle  of  St.  Ange. 

*  At  Montefortino,  at  Mount  St.  John,  at  Rapallo,  at  Sarzana,  at  To^ 
canella,  at  Fornoo,  at  Gaete. 

M 


134  SUMMARY   OF 

He  delivered  up,  with  trembling,  the  brother  of 
Bajazet  II.,  supposed  by  Charles  VIII.  to  be  neces- 
sary to  him,  in  order  to  conquer  the  Empire  of  the 
East;  but  he  delivered  him  poisoned.  In  the 
mean  time,  the  new  King  of  Naples,  Alphonso  If./ 
fled  to  a  convent  of  Sicily,  leaving  his  kingdom  to 
be  defended  by  a  monarch  of  18  years.  The 
young  Ferdinand  II.  was  abandoned  at  St.  Ger- 
mano,  and  saw  his  palace  pillaged  by  the  populace 
of  Naples,  always  furious  against  the  vanquished. 
The  French  soldiers  no  longer  fatigued  themselves 
by  wearing  armour,  but  pursued  their  conquest 
leisurely  in  their  morning  attire,  without  any  trouble 
other  than  to  send  their  quartermasters  before 
them  to  prepare  their  lodgings.  The  Turks  soon 
saw  the  fleurs  de  Us  waving  at  Otranto,  and  the 
Greeks  taking  up  arms.* 

The  partisans  of  the  house  of  Anjou,  plundered 
for  sixty  years,  had  thought  to  conquer  with  Charles 
VIII.  ;  but  this  prince,  who  cared  little  for  the 
services  which  they  had  been  able  to  render  to 
the  kings  of  Provence,  exacted  no  restitution  from 
the  opposite  party.  He  dissatisfied  all  the  nobility 
by  announcing  his  intention  to  limit  the  feudal  ju-' 
risdiction,  after  the  example  of  those  of  France. 
He  nominated  French  governors  for  all  the  cities 
and  fortresses,  and  thus  decided  several  cities  to 

*  Comines,  book  vii.,  chap.  xvii. 


MODERN    HISTORY.  135 

raise  again  the  standard  of  Aragon.  At  the  end 
of  three  months  the  French  were  wearied  with 
the  Neapolitans,  the  Neapolitans  weary  of  the 
French  ;  they  had  forgotten  their  projects  upon  the 
East,  and  were  impatient  to  return,  to  relate  to 
the  ladies  of  their  own  country  their  brilliant  ad- 
ventures. 

Formosa,  1493. — In  the  mean  time,  a  league, 
which  was  almost  universal,  was  formed  against 
Charles  VIII. ,  who  must  hasten  to  regain  France, 
if  he  did  not  wish  to  be  made  a  prisoner  in  the 
kingdom  which  he  had  come  to  conquer.  In  again 
descending  the  Apennines,  he  met  at  Formosa  the 
army  of  the  allies,  composed  of  forty  thousand 
men  ;  the  French  had  only  nine  thousand.  Hav- 
ing in  vain  demanded  a  passage,  they  forced  it, 
and  the  enemy's  army,  which  endeavoured  to  ar- 
rest them,  were  put  to  flight  by  a  few  charges  of 
the  cavalry.  Thus  the  king  re-entered  France 
gloriously,  having  justified  all  his  imprudence  by 
one  victory. 

Death  of  Savonarola.  —  The  Italians,  believing 
themselves  delivered,  called  Savonarola  to  account 
for  his  sinister  predictions  ;  and  his  party,  that  of  the 
Piagnpni  (Feuillants),  who  had  freed  and  reformed 
Florence,  beheld  all  his  influence  overthrown.  The 
friends  of  the  Medicis,  whom  they  had  bitterly 
persecuted,  and  the  Pope  Alexander  VI. ,  whose 


136  SUMMARY    OF 

0 

excesses  Savonarola  had  attacked  with  great  free- 
dom, seized  the  occasion  to  destroy  a  faction  which 
had  exhausted  the  capricious  enthusiasm  of  the 
Florentines.  A  Franciscan  monk  wishing,  he  said, 
to  prove  that  Savtnarola  was  an  impostor,  and  that 
he  possessed  neither  the  gift  of  prophecy  nor  of 
miracles,  offered  to  pass  through  a  Burning  jgg  with 
him.  On  the  appointed  day,  when  the  pile  was 
arranged,  and  all  the  people  in  expectation,  the 
two  parties  made  some  difficulty,  and  a  violent 
rain  completed  the  ill-humour  of  the  people.  Sa- 
vanarola  was  arrested,  tried  by  the  commissioners 
of  the  pope,  and  burned  alive.  When  the  sentence 
was  read  to  him,  by  which  he  was  cut  off  from 
the  Church,  "  From  the  Church  militant,"  said  he, 
hoping  thenceforward  to  belong  to  the  Church  tri- 
umphant (1498). 

Italy  discovered  that  there  was  but  too  much 
truth  in  these  prophecies. 

Louis  JL//.,  1498 — Division  of  the  Kingdom  of 
Naples. — On  the  same  day  of  the  ordeal  by  fire  of 
Savanarola,  Charles  VIII.  died  at  Amboise,  and 
left  the  throne  to  the  Duke  of  O^ejans  (Louis  XII.), 
who  joined  to  the  claims  of  his  predecessor  upon 
Naples  those  which  his  grandmother,  Valentine 
Visconti,  gave  him  upon  Milan.  As  soon  as  his 
marriage  with  the  widow  of  Charles  VIII.  had  se- 
cured the  reunion  of  Brittany,  he  invaded  Milan  in 


MODERN    HISTORY.  137 

concert  with  the  Venitians.     The  two  hostile  ar- 
mies were  partly  composed  of  Swiss ;  those  of 
Ludovic  refused  to  fight  against  the  banner  of  their 
canton,  which  they  saw  in  the  army  of  the  King 
of  France,  and  deserted  the  Duke  of  Milan.     But 
in  returning  to  their  mountains,  they  took  posses- 
sion of  Bellinzona,  which  Louis  XII.  was  obliged 
to  yield  to  them,  and  which  became  to  them  the 
key  of  Lombardy.    Milan  being  taken,  Louis  XII., 
who   could  not  hope  for  the  conquest  of  Naples 
while  opposed  by  the  Spaniards,  divided  that  king- 
dom with  them  by  a  secret  treaty.     The  unfortu- 
nate Don  Frederic,  who  then  reigned,  called  the 
Spaniards  to  his  aid,  and  when  he  had  led  Gon- 
zalvo  di  Cordova  into  his  principal  fortresses,  the 
treaty  of  transfer  was  notified  to  him  (1501).    This 
odious  conquest  only  engendered  war.     The  two 
nations  contended  for  the  salt-tax  which  was  levied 
on  the  travelling  flocks  that  in  the  spring  passed 
from  the  Puglia  into  the  Abruzzo,  and  which  was 
the  surest  revenue  in  the  kingdom.     Ferdinand 
amused  Louis  XII.  by  a  treaty  until  he  had  sent 
sufficient  re-enforcements  to  Gonzalvo,  who  was 
blocked  up  in  Bartella.     The  military  skill  of  the 
great  captain,  and  the  discipline  of  the  Spanish  in- 
fantry, obtained  advantages  everywhere  over  the 
brilliant  courage  of  the  French  troops.     The  val- 
our  of  Louis   d'Ars  and  of  D'Aubigny,  the  ex- 
M2 


138  VTfetJMMARY    OF       /~     * 

'  *   '  ,        /    *  <'  / 

ploits  of  Bayard,  who,  it  is  said,  defended  a  bridge 

against  an  army,  could  not  prevent  the  French 
from  being  beaten  at  Seminara  and  at  Cerignola, 
nor  from  being  driven  a  second  time  from  the  king- 
dom of  Naples  by  their  defeat  at  Garigliano  (De- 
cember, 1503). 

Death  of  Alexander  VI. ,  1503.  —  Louis  XIL 
was  still  master  of  a  great  part  of  Italy,  sovereign 
of  Milan  and  lord  of  Genoa,  ally  of  Florence  and 
of  the  Pope  Alexander  VI.,  who  relied  on  none 
but  him.*  He  extended  his  influence  over  Tus- 
cany, Romagna,  and  the  State  of  Rome.  The 
death  of  Alexander  VI.,  and  the  ruin  of  his  son, 
were  events  scarcely  less  fatal  to  him  than  his  de- 
feat at  Garigliano.  The  Italian  power  of  Borgia, 
which  raised  itself  between  the  possessions  of  the 
French  and  those  of  the  Spaniards,  was  as  the 
advance  guard  of  Milan. 

Caesar  Borgia  deserved  to  be  the  ideal  of  Machi- 
avel,  not  for  having  shown  himself  more  perfidious 
than  the  other  princes  of  that  epoch  :  Ferdinand 
the  Catholic  could  disprove  that;  not  for  having 
been  the  assassin  of  his  brother,  and  the  lover  of 
his  sister ;  he  could  not  surpass  his  father  in  de- 

*  Caesar  Borgia  of  France,  by  the  grace  of  God  Duke  of  Romagna  and  of 
Valentinois,  &c.,  &c.  (passport  of  the  19th  of  October,  1502).  He  said  to 
the  ambassador  of  Florence,  the  King  of  France,  our  common  master 
(10th  January,  1503).  Legation  of  Machiavel  with  Caesar  Borgia. 


MODERN   HISTORY.  139 

pravity  or  cruelty ;  but  for  having  made  a  science 
of  crime ;    for  having   established  a  school  and 
given  lessons  in  infamy.*     In  the  mean  time  the 
hero  of  the  system,  by  his  bad  success,  pronounced 
its  most  memorable  condemnation.     The  ally  of 
Louis  XII.  and  standard-bearer  of  the  Church,  he 
employed  during  six  years  all  the  resources  of 
cunning  and  of  courage.     He  believed  that  he 
was  working  for  his  own  aggrandizement ;  he  said 
to  Machiavel  that  he  had  foreseen  everything ;  at 
the  death  of  his  father  he  hoped  to  be  made  pope, 
through  the  influence  of  eighteen  Spanish  cardi- 
nals, who  had  been  appointed  by  Alexander  VI. ;  in 
the  Roman  States,  he  had  gained  the  lower  class 
of  nobles,  destroyed  the  higher ;   he  had  extermi- 
nated the  tyrants  of  Romagna ;  he  had  attached  to 
himself  the  people  of  that  province,  who  were 
happy  under  his  vigorous  and  skilful  administra- 
tion.     He   had   foreseen   everything  except  the 
event  of  his  being  ill  at  the  period  of  his  father's 
death,  and  this  event  happened.     Both  the  father 
and  the  son,  who,  it  is  said,  had  invited  a  cardinal 
with  the  intent  of  putting  him  to  death,  drank  the 
.m  which  they  had  prepared  for  him.     "  This 
man,  so  wise,  seems  to  have  lost  his  reason,"  then 

*  Machiavel  says  somewhere,  He  has  sent  one  of  his  pupils.  Hugues 
de  Moneade,  a  general  of  Charles  V.,  boasted  to  have  been  the  pupil  of 
that  schooL 


140  SUMMARY   OF 

wrote  Macliiavel  (November  14, 1503).  Forced 
by  the  new  pope,  Julius  II.,  he  abandoned  all  the 
fortresses  that  he  possessed,  and  then  delivered 
himself  up  to  Gonzalvo  de  Cordova,  believing  that 
another's  word  was  letter  than  his  own.  (Letter  of 
4th  November.)  But  the  general  of  Ferdinand  the 
Catholic,  who  said  that  "  the  robe  of  honour  ought 
to  be  of  a  loose  tissue,"  sent  him  to  Spain,  where 
he  was  imprisoned  in  the  citadel  of  Medina  del 
Campo. 

Julius  II. — Julius  II.  followed  up  the  conquests 
of  Borgia  from  motives  less  personal.  He  wished 
to  make  the  pontifical  state  the  predominant  state 
of  Italy,  to  deliver  all  the  peninsula  from  the  bar- 
barians, and  to  constitute  the  Swiss  the  guardians 
of  Italian  liberty.  Employing  by  turns  both  spir- 
itual and  temporal  weapons,  this  intrepid  pontiff 
consumed  his  life  in  the  execution  of  this  incon- 
gruous project ;  the  barbarians  could  .only  be 
driven  away  by  the  assistance  of  Venice,  and 
Venice  must  be  humbled,  in  order  to  make  the 
Church  the  preponderating  power  of  Italy. 

Julius  II.  at  first  wished  to  give  liberty  to  his 
countrymen,  the  Genoese,  and  encouraged  their 
revolt  against  Louis  XII.  The  nobles,  favoured 
by  the  French  government,  ceased  not  to  insult 
the  people ;  they  went  everywhere  armed  with 
poignards,  on  which  they  had  engraved,  "  I  chastise 


MODERN    HISTORY.  141 

the  low-lorn"  The  people  revolted,  and  chose  a 
dyer  for  their  doge.  Louis  XII.  soon  appeared 
under  their  walls  with  a  brilliant  army ;  the  Cheva- 
lier Bayard  ascended  without  difficulty  the  mount- 
ains which  covered  Genoa,  and  cried  aloud  to 
them,  "  Knights  of  the  yardstick,  merchants,  de- 
fend yourselves  with  your  measure-sticks,  and 
throw  down  the  pikes  and  lances,  which  you  are 
not  accustomed  to."*  The  king,  unwilling  to  ruin 
so  rich  a  city,  caused  only  the  doge  and  a  few  of 
the  citizens  to  be  hung,  burned  the  privileges  of 
the  city,  and  constructed  a  fortress  which  com- 
manded the  entrance  of  the  port  (1507). 

League  of  Cambray,  1508. — The  same  jealousy 
of  monarchies  against  republics,  of  the  poor  against 
industrious  opulence,  soon  armed  the  greater  part 
of  the  princes  of  the  West  against  the  ancient  ri- 
val of  Genoa.  The  government  of  Venice  had 
known  how  to  profit  by  the  faults  and  the  misfor- 
tunes of  all  the  other  powers ;  it  had  gained  from 
the  fall  of  Ludovic  the  Moor,  from  the  expulsion 
of  the  French  from  Naples,  and  from  the  ruin  of 
Caesar  Borgia.  So  much  success  excited  the  fears 
and  the  jealousies  of  the  Italian  powers  themselves, 
who  ought  to  have  desired  the  grandeur  of  Venice. 
"  Your  lordships  (Machiavel  wrote-  to  the  Floren- 

*  Champisr,  The  Deeds,  together  with  the  tefe  of  the  worthy  Chevalier 
Bayard,  &c. 


142  SUMMARY    OF 

tines)  have  always  told  me  that  it  was  Venice  which 
threatened  the  liberty  of  Italy."*  From  the  year 
1503,  M.  de  Chaumont,  lieutenant  of  the  king  in  Mi- 
lan, said  to  the  same  ambassador,  "  It  will  so  hap- 
pen that  the  Venitians  will  now  have  no  occupation 
but  fishing ;  and  for  the  Swiss,  we  are  sure  of 
them"  (22d  January).  This  conspiracy  against 
Venice,  which  existed  since  1504  (treaty  of  Blois), 
was  renewed  in  1508  (league  of  Cambray,  10th 
December)  by  the  imprudence  of  Julius  II.,  who 
wished,  at  any  price,  to  recover  some  of  the  cities 
of  Romagna.  The  pope,  the  emperor,  and  the 
King  of  France,  proposed  to  the  King  of  Hungary 
to  enter  into  a  confederation,  for  the  purpose  of  re- 
taking Dalmatia  and  Esclavonia.  The  Dukes  of 
Savoy  and  of  Ferrara,  and  even  the  Marquis  of 
Mantua,  were  also  willing  to  aid  in  the  overthrow 
of  a  power  which  they  had  so  long  feared.  The 
Venitians  were  defeated  by  Louis  XII.  at  the 
bloody  battle  of  Aignadel  (1509),  and  the  balls 
of  the  French  batteries  flew  even  to  the  Lagunes. 
In  this  perilous  moment,  the  decision  of  the  Senate 
of  Venice  did  justice  to  its  reputation  for  wisdom. 
They  declared  that  they  wished  to  save  the  prov- 
inces from  the  miseries  of  war;  they  absolved 
them  from  the  oath  of  fidelity,  and  promised  to  in- 

*  Legation  to  the  Emperor,  February,  1508.    See,  also,  the  Legation 
to  the  Court  of  France,  February  13,  1503. 


MODERN    HISTORY.  143 

damnify  them  for  all  their  losses  at  the  return  of 
peace.  Whether  from  attachment  to  the  Republic, 
or  from  hatred  of  the  Germans,  the  peasants  of 
Verona  would  sooner  permit  themselves  to  be 
hung  than  abjure  St.  Mark,  and  cry  Vive  FEmpe-^ 
reur.  The  Venitians  gained  a  victory  over  the 
Marquis  of  Mantua,  retook  Padua,  and  defended 
the  city  against  Maximilian,  who  besieged  it  with 
100,000  men.  The  King  of  Naples  and  the  pope, 
•whose  claims  were  satisfied,  made  peace  with  Ven- 
ice ;  and  Julius  II.,  who  only  thought  to  drive  the 
larbarians  from  Italy,  turned  his  impetuous  policy 
against  the  French. 

Holy  League. — The  projects  of  the  pope  were 
greatly  assisted  by  the  injudicious  economy  of 
Louis  XII.,  who  had  reduced  the  pay  of  the  Swiss, 
and  who  would  no  longer  permit  them  to  procure 
provisions  from  Burgundy  and  Milan.  The  error  of 
Louis  XL  was  now  perceived,  who,  in  substituting 
the  mercenary  infantry  of  the  Swiss  for  his  free  arch- 
ers, had  placed  France  in  the  power  of  strangers. 
It  became  necessary  to  replace  the  Swiss  by  the 
German  Landsknechts,  who  were  recalled  by  the 
emperor  on  the  eve  of  the  battle  of  Ravenna.  In/ 
the  mean  time,  the  pope  had  commenced  the  war ; 
he  summoned  the  Swiss  into  Italy,  and  made  them 
enter  into  the  Holy  League  against  France,  Fer- 
dinand, Venice,  Henry  VIIL,  and  Maximilian 


144  SUMMARY    OF 

(1511-12).  While  Louis  XII.,  doubtful  whether  he 
could  defend  himself  against  the  pope  without  sin- 
ning, consulted  the  learned  doctors,  and  assembled^ 
council  at  Pisa,  Julius  II.  besieged  Mirandola  in 
person,  lodged  himself,  with  his  trembling  cardi- 
nals, under  the  fire  of  the  city,  and  made  his  en- 
trance there  through  the  breach. 

Gaston  of  Foix.  —  The  ardour  of  Julius  II., 
and  the  policy  of  the  allies,  were  for  an  instant 
disconcerted  by  the  sudden  appearance  of  Gaston 
of  Foix,  the  nephew  of  Louis  XII.,  at  the  head  of 
the  French  army.  This  young  man,  22  years  of 
age,  arrived  in  Lombardy,  gained  three  victories  in 
three  months,  and  died,  leaving  behind  him  the 
memory  of  the  most  impetuous  general  Italy  had 
ever  known.  At  first  he  intimidated  or  won  the 
Swiss  to  his  cause,  and  made  them  return  to  their 
mountains ;  he  saved  Bologna,  which  was  besie- 
ged, and,  favoured  by  the  snow  and  a  hurricane,  he 
rushed  with  his  army  into  the  city  (7th  February). 
On  the  18th  he  was  before  Brescia,  which  had 
been  retaken  by  the  Venitians ;  on  the  19th  he 
had  taken  it  by  storm;  on  the  llth  of  April  he 
died  a  conqueror,  at  Ravenna.  In  the  terrific  ra- 
pidity of  his  success,  he  spared  neither  his  own 
troops  nor  the  vanquished.  Brescia,  during  seven 
days,  was  delivered  up  to  the  fury  of  the  soldiery  ; 
and  it  is  said  that  the  conquerors  massacred  15,000 


MODERN    HISTORY.  145 

persons,  men,  women,  and  children.  Truly,  the 
Chevalier  Bayard  had  few  imitators. 

Gaston,  on  his  return  to  Romugna,  attacked 
Ravenna,  in  order  to  force  the  army  of  Spain 
and  the  pope  to  accept  battle.*  The  cannonade 
having  commenced,  Pedro  de  Navarre,  who  had 
formed  the  Spanish  infantry,  and  relied  on  them 
for  victory,  kept  them  lying  flat  on  their  faces, 
expecting,  with  cold-blooded  indifference,  that  the 
cannon-balls  would  cut  to  pieces  the  gendarmerie 
of  the  two  armies.  The  Italian  soldiers  lost  all 
command  of  themselves,  and  were  beaten  by  the 
French.  The  Spanish  infantry,  after  having  sus- 
tained the  combat  with  an  obstinate  valour,  retreat- 
ed slowly,  Gaston,  furious  with  indignation,  pre- 
cipitated himself,  with  twenty  soldiers,  upon  them,, 
penetrated  into  their  ranks,  and  there  found  his 
death  (1512). 

From  that  time  success  no  longer  attended  Louis 
XII.  The  Sforza  were  re-established  at  Milan,  and 
the  Medicis  at  Florence.  The  army  of  the  king 
was  beaten  by  the  Swiss  at  Navarre,  by  the  Eng- 
lish at  Guinegate.  France,  attacked  in  front  by 
the  Spaniards  and  Swiss,  beset  in  the  rear  by  the 
English,  beheld  her  two  allies  of  Scotland  and  of 
Navarre  vanquished  and  plundered.  (See  chap,  ii.) 

*  See  the  letter  of  the  Chevalier  Bayard  to  his  uncle,  vol.  xvi.  of  the 
Collection  of  Memoirs, 

N 


146  SUMMARY    OF 

The  war  had  no  longer  an  object.  The  Swiss 
reigned  at  Milan  under  the  name  of  Maximilian 
Sforza  ;  France  and  Venice  were  humbled ;  the 
emperor  was  exhausted,  Henry  VIII.  discouraged, 
Ferdinand  satisfied  with  the  conquest  of  Navarre, 
which  opened  to  him  the  frontier  of  France.  Louis 
XII.  concluded  a  truce  with  Ferdinand,  abjured 
the  Council  of  Pisa,  left  Milan  to  Maximilian  Sforza, 
and  espoused  the  sister  of  Henry  VIII.  (1514). 
(See,  later,  his  administration.) 

Francis  I.,  1515  —  Marignan. — While  Europe 
believed  that  France  was  prostrated,  and,  as  it 
were,  superannuated  with  Louis  XII.,  she  displayed 
unexpected  resources  under  the  young  Francis  I., 
who  had  just  succeeded  him  (1st  of  January,  1515). 
The  Swiss,  who  supposed  that  they  had  guarded 
all  the  passages  of  the  Alps,  heard  with  terror  that 
the  French  army  had  opened  a  way  through  the 
valley  of  Argentiere.  Two  thousand  five  hundred 
lancers,  ten  thousand  Biscayans,  and  twenty-two 
thousand  Landsknechts  passed  through  a  defile 
which  had  never  been  entered  except  by  the  hunt- 
ers of  the  chamois.  The  French  army  advanced, 
while  negotiating,  as  far  as  Marignan;  there  the 
Swiss,  whom  the  French  thought  they  had  gained 
over,  threw  themselves  upon  their  invaders  with 
their  pikes,  eighteen  feet  long,  and  with  broad- 
swords in  both  hands,  without  artillery,  without 


MODERN   HISTORY.  147 

cavalry,  and  employing  no  other  military  resource 
but  bodily  strength,  they  marched  in  front  of  the 
batteries,  the  discharges  of  which  carried  away 
whole  files  of  their  troops,  and  sustained  more 
than  thirty  charges  from  those  great  war-horses, 
covered  with  steel  like  the  soldiers  who  mounted 
them.  In  the  evening  they  had  broken  the  line 
of  the  French  army.  The  king,  who  had  fought 
most  bravely,  saw  but  a  small  number  of  his  men 
around  him.  But  during  the  night  the  French 
collected  their  dispersed  troops,  and  the  battle  was 
renewed  in  the  morning,  more  furiously  than  ever. 
At  last  the  Swiss,  hearing  the  war-cry  from  the 
Venitians,  the  allies  of  France,  Marco!  Marco! 
were  persuaded  that  all  the  Italian  army  had  ar- 
rived ;  they  closed  their  ranks,  and  retreated,  but 
with  so  proud  an  air  that  no  one  dared  to  pursue 
them.*  Having  obtained  from  Francis  I.  more 
money  than  Sforza  was  able  to  give  them,  they 
appeared  no  more  in  Italy.  The  pope  also  made 

•fc 

I  *  Letter  of  Francis  I.  to  hi*  Mother.  "  All  night  we  remained  in  the 
•addle,  the  lance  in  hand,  the  helmet  on  the  head  ....  and  because  I 
was  the  nearest  to  our  enemies,  I  was  obliged  to  keep  watch,  so  that 
they  did  not  surprise  us  in  the  morning  .  .  .  and  believe,  madame,  that 
we  have  been  28  hours  on  horseback,  without  eating  or  drinking.  For 
two  thousand  years  there  has  never  been  seen  so  fierce  and  so  cruel  a 
battle  ;  they  say  that  that  of  Ravenna  was  but  trifling  compared  to  this 
.  .  .  and  let  no  one  say  that  the  gens  d'armes  are  armed  hares,  for  ... 
Written  in  the  camp  of  St.  Brigide,  Friday,  14th  September,  1515."— 
17th  vol.  of  Collection  of  Memoirs. 


148         SUMMARY    OF   MODERN   HISTORY. 

a  treaty  with  the  conqueror,  and  obtained  from 
Francis  the  concordat  which  abolished  the  prag- 
matic sanction.  The  alliance  of  the  pope  and 
Venice  seemed  to  open  to  Francis  I.  the  way  to 
Naples.  The  youthful  Charles  of  Austria,  sover- 
eign of  the  Netherlands,  who  had  just  succeeded 
his  grandfather,  Ferdinand  the  Catholic,  in  Spain, 
had  need  of  peace  to  regulate  his  vast  heritage. 
Francis  I.  enjoyed  his  victory,  instead  of  comple- 
ting it.  The  treaty  of  Noyon  gave  a  moment  of 
repose  to  Europe,  and  allowed  the  two  rivals  time 
to  prepare  for  a  more  terrible  conflict  (1516). 


7 


SECOND  PERIOD. 

FROM  THE  REFORMATION  TO  THE  TREATY  OF  WEST- 
PHALIA. 

1517-1648, 


N2 


SECOND  PERIOD. 


INTRODUCTION. 


IF  we  regard  only  the  series  of  wars  and  of 
political  events,  the  sixteenth  century  is  an  age 
of  blood  and  ruin.  It  opens  with  the  devastation 
of  Italy  by  the  merciless  troops  of  Francis  I.  and 
of  Charles  V.,  and  the  frightful  ravages  of  Solyman, 
who  annually  depopulated  Hungary.  Then  fol- 
low those  terrible  struggles  of  religious  creeds,  in 
which  the  war  was  one  not  only  of  nation  against 
nation,  but  of  city  against  city,  and  of  man  against 
man  ;  when  it  intruded  even  to  the  domestic  fire- 
side, and  raged  between  father  and  son.  They 
who  should  leave  history  at  this  crisis,  would  be- 
lieve that  Europe  was  about  to  fall  into  a  state  of 
profound  barbarism.  But  far  otherwise  :  the  deli- 
cate plant  of  the  arts  and  of  civilization  grew  and 
gathered  strength  amid  those  violent  shocks  which 
seemed  ready  to  destroy  it.  Michael  Angelo 
painted  the  Sixtine  Chapel  the  very  year  of  the  bat- 
tle of  Ravenna.  The  youthful  Tartaglio  rises  from 
the  destruction  of  Brescia  to  become  the  restorer 


152  SUMMARY   OF 

of  mathematics.  The  grand  epoch  of  law  among 
the  moderns,  the  age  of  L'Hdpital  and  Cujacius, 
was  also  that  of  the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew. 

The  peculiar  characteristic  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  and  that  which  distinguished  it  so  deci- 
dedly from  the  Middle  Ages,  was  the  power  of 
opinion,  which  at  that  period  truly  became  the 
sovereign  of  the  world.  Henry  VIII.  dared  not 
repudiate  Catharine  of  Aragon  without  consulting 
the  principal  universities  of  Europe.  Charles  V. 
sought  to  prove  his  faith  by  the  persecution  of  the 
Moors,  while  his  armies  made  a  prisoner  of,  and 
ransomed  the  pope.  Francis  I.  raised  the  first 
funeral  pile  which  was  ascended  by  the  Protest- 
ants of  France,  in  order  to  excuse  to  himself  and 
his  subjects  his  connexion  with  Solyman  and  with 
the  Lutherans  in  Germany.  Even  these  acts  of 
intolerance  were  so  much  homage  rendered  to 
public  opinion.  Princes  then  courted  the  praises 
of  those  most  unworthy  to  bestow  renown.  The 
Kings  of  France  and  Spain  vied  with  each  other 
in  their  eagerness  to  obtain  the  favour  of  Paul  Jove, 
and  of  Peter  Aretinus. 

While  France  is  slowly  following  Italy  in  the 
more  elegant  developments  of  intellect,  two  na- 
tions of  a  profoundly  serious  character  relinquish 
to  them  the  letters  and  arts,  as  trifling  toys  or 
profane  amusements.  The  Spaniards,  a  politic 


MODERN    HISTORY.  153 

people,  inflamed  with  the  lust  of  conquest,  draw 
their  strength,  as  the  Romans  did  formerly,  from 
their  attachment  to  old  maxims  and  ancient  creeds. 
Occupied  in  conquering  and  governing  Europe, 
they  relied  in  all  speculative  matters  upon  the  au- 
thority of  the  Church.  While  Spain  inclines  more 
firmly  to  a  political  and  religious  unity,  Germa- 
ny, with  its  anarchical  constitution,  surrenders  it- 
self to  every  variety  of  opinions  and  of  systems. 
France,  placed  between  both,  will  in  the  sixteenth 
century  be  the  principal  field  of  battle,  where 
these  two  opposing  spirits  will  contend.  The  con- 
flict will  be  the  more  violent  and  lasting,  in  pro- 
portion as  the  forces  are  more  equal. 
0- 


CHAPTER  VI. 


LEO  X.,  FRANCIS  I.,  AND  CHARLES  V. 

Francis  I.,  1515.— Charles  V.,  Emperor,  1519.— First  War  against 
Charles  V.,  1521  .—Disaffection  of  the  Duke  of  Bourbon,  1523.— Bat- 
tie  of  Pavia,  1525.—  Captivity  of  Francis  1. ;  Treaty  of  Madrid,  1526. 
—Second  War,  1527.— Peace  of  Cambray,  1529.— Public  Alliance  of 
Francis  I.  with  Solyman,  1534.— Third  War,  1535.— Truce  of  Nice, 
1538.— Renewal  of  Hostilities,  1541.— Battle  of  Cerisoles,  1544.— 
Treaty  of  Crespy ;  Death  of  Francis  I.  and  Henry  VIII.,  1547.— In- 
ternal Situation  of  France  and  Spain  ;  Reformation  ;  First  Persecu- 
tions, 1535.— Massacre  of  the  Vaudois,  1545. 

Francis  I.  and  Charles  V. — However  severely 


154  SUMMARY    OF 

we  may  judge  Francis  I.  and  Leo  X.,  we  must 
guard  against  comparing  them  with  that  ignoble 
generation  of  princes  who  closed  the  preceding 
age  (Alexander  "VI.,  Louis  XL,  Ferdinand  the 
Catholic,  James  III.,  &c.,  &c.).  In  their  faults 
even  there  was  at  least  some  glory,  some  grandeur. 
They  certainly  did  not  make  the  age  in  which 
they  lived,  but  they  showed  themselves  worthy 
of  it ;  they  loved  the  arts,  and  the  arts  at  this  day 
still  speak  for  them,  and  demand  an  offering  of 
thanks  to  their  memory.  The  price  obtained  by 
selling  the  indulgences  which  roused  Germany  to 
resistance,  paid  for  the  paintings  of  the  Vatican, 
and  for  the  construction  of  St.  Peter's.  The  extor- 
tions of  Duprat  are  forgotten  ;  but  the  royal  estab- 
lishment for  printing,  the  College  of  France,  remain. 
Charles  V.,  surrounded  by  his  statesmen  and  his 
generals,  between  Lannoy,  Pescaire,  Antonio  de 
Leyva,  and  as  many  other  illustrious  warriors,  pre- 
sents himself  to  us  under  a  graver  aspect.  We  see 
him  constantly  traversing  Europe,  to  visit  the  wide- 
ly-separated parts  of  his  vast  empire,  speaking  to 
each  people  in  their  own  language,  making  war  by 
turns  upon  Francis  I.  and  the  Protestants  of  Ger- 
many, upon  Solyman  and  the  barbarians.  He  was 
the  true  follower  of  Charlemagne,  and  the  defender 
of  the  Christian  world.  In  him  the  statesman 
predominated  over  the  warrior.  He  presents  to 


MODERN    HISTORY.  155 

us  the  first  model  of  the  sovereigns  of  modern  times ; 
Francis  I.  is  but  a  hero  of  the  Middle  Ages.  When 
the  empire  became  vacant  by  the  death  of  Maxi- 
milian I.  (1519),  and  the  Kings  of  France,  of 
Spain,  and  of  England  claimed  the  imperial  crown, 
the  electors,  fearing  to  become  subjects  of  for- 
eign power,  offered  the  crown  to  one  of  their  own 
number,  Frederic  Le  Sage  (the  wise),  elector  of 
Saxony.  This  prince  caused  it  to  be  given  to 
Charles  V.,  and  merited  his  surname  by  the  wis- 
dom of  his  choice.  Charles  V.  was  the  one  of 
the  three  candidates  whose  power  would  be  most 
inimical  to  the  liberty  of  Germany,  but  he  was 
also  the  most  capable  of  defending  it  against  the 
Turks.  Selim  and  Solyman  were  reviving  at  this 
time  the  fears  which  had  disturbed  Europe  in  the 
time  of  Mohammed  II.  The  master  of  Spain,  of 
the  kingdom  of  Naples,  and  of  Austria,  was  alone 
able  to  close  the  civilized  world  against  the  bar- 
barians of  Africa  and  Asia. 

Thus,  with  their  competition  for  the  imperial 
crown,  broke  out  the  bloody  rivalry  of  Francis  I. 
and  Charles  V.  The  former  claimed  Naples  for 
himself,  and  Navarre  for  Henry  of  Albret  ;  the 
emperor  demanded  the  imperial  fief  of  Milan 
and  the  duchy  of  Burgundy.  Their  resources 
might  pass  as  equal.  If  the  empire  of  Charles 
was  larger,  it  was  not  so  compact  as  that  of 


156  SUMMARY    OP 

France.  His  subjects  were  richer,  but  his  author- 
ity was  more  limited.  The  French  gendarmerie 
had  not  less  reputation  than  the  Spanish  infantry. 
The  victory  would  accrue  to  him  who  could  en- 
gage the  King  of  England  in  his  party.  Hen- 
ry VIII.,  not  without  reason,  took  for  his  motto, 
Whom  I  defend  is  Master.  Both  gave  a  pension 
to  his  prime  minister,  Cardinal  Wolsey,  and  both 
demanded  his  daughter  Mary  in  marriage  ;  one  for 
the  dauphin,  and  the  other  for  himself.  Francis 
I.  obtained  an  interview  with  him  near  Calais,  but, 
forgetting  that  he  had  still  need  to  gain  him,  he 
eclipsed  him  by  his  grace  and  his  magnificence.* 
Charles  V.,  more  artful,  had  anticipated  that  inter- 
view by  visiting  Henry  VIII.  in  England.  He  had 
gained  Wolsey  by  permitting  him  to  hope  for  the 
papal  crown.  The  negotiation  was  also  much 
more  easy  for  him  than  for  Francis  I.  Henry  VIII. 
was  already  indisposed  towards  the  King  of  France, 
who  governed  Scotland  by  the  Duke  of  Albany,  his 
protege  and  his  subject,!  to  tne  prejudice  of  Mar- 
garet,  the  widow  of  James  IV.,  and  sister  of  the 
King  of  England.  By  an  alliance  with  Charles 

*  The  place  of  this  interview  was  called  the  Field  of  the  Cloth  of 
Gold. 

t  Pinkerton,  vol.  ii.,  p.  135.  The  regent  himself,  in  his  despatches, 
tails  the  King  of  France  my  mastery  and  he  valued  the  great  possessions 
which  he  had  in  France  much  more  than  the  regency  of  the  kingdom  of 
Scotland. 


i\ 


MODERN    HISTORY.  157 

V.,  too,  he  hoped  to  recover  apart  of  those  domains 
which  his  ancestors  had  formerly  possessed  in 
France. 

Everything  succeeded  with  the  emperor.  He 
gained  Leo  X.,  and  he  had  afterward  the  merit 
of  raising  to  the  papal  chair  his  preceptor,  Adrian 
of  Utrecht.  The  French,  who  penetrated  into 
Spain,  arrived  too  late  to  aid  the  insurgents  (1521). 
The  Governor  of  Milan,  Lautrec,  who,  it  is  said, 
had  exiled  nearly  half  of  the  inhabitants  of  Milan, 
was  driven  from  Lombardy.  It  was  the  same 
thing  again  the  following  year ;  the  badly-paid 
Swiss  demanded  discharge  or  battle,  and  brought 
defeat  on  themselves  at  Bicoque.  The  money  de- 
signed for  the  troops  had  been  disposed  of  by  the 
queen-mother,  from  hatred  to  the  general. 

The  Constable  of  Bourbon. — At  the  moment 
when  Francis  I.  expected  to  enter  Italy,  an  inter- 
nal enemy  placed  France  in  the  greatest  danger. 
He  had  bestowed  favours  on  the  Constable  of 
Bourbon,  one  of  those  who  had  contributed  most 
to  the  victory  of  Marignan.  Charles,  count  of 
Montpensier,  and  dauphin  of  Auvergne,  held  from 
his  wife,  the  granddaughter  of  Louis  XL,  the 
dukedom  of  Bourbon  and  the  earldoms  of  Clermont, 
Marche,  and  other  domains,  which  made  him  the 
greatest  lord  of  the  kingdom.  At  the  death  of  his 
wife,  the  queen-mother,  Louise  of  Savoy,  who  had 
O 


158  SUMMARY   OF 

wished  to  unite  herself  to  the  constable,  but  who 
had  received  a  refusal,  now  desired  his  ruin,  as 
she  could  not  marry  him.  She  contested  his  title 
to  that  rich  inheritance,  and  obtained  through  her 
son,  that  the  property  should  be  put  in  sequestra- 
tion. Bourbon,  enraged,  resolved  to  join  the  em- 
peror (1523).  A  century  before,  this  revolt  would 
have  involved  no  idea  of  disloyalty.  The  most 
accomplished  chevaliers  of  France  had  entered 
into  the  League  for  the  Public  Good.  More  re- 
cently, in  Spain,  Don  Pedro  de  Giron,  discontent- 
ed with  Charles  V.,  had  been  seen  to  renounce 
to  his  face  all  obedience  to  him,  and  to  take  the 
command  of  the  Communeros.  But  here  was  no 
question  of  a  revolt  against  the  king ;  at  that  ep- 
och it  was  impossible  in  France.  This  was  a 
conspiracy  against  the  very  existence  of  France, 
which  Bourbon  was  plotting  with  strangers.  He 
had  promised  Charles  V.  to  attack  Burgundy  as 
soon  as  Francis  I.  had  passed  the  Alps,  and  to  ex- 
cite a  rebellion  in  five  provinces,  of  which  he  be- 
lieved himself  master ;  the  kingdom  of  Provence 
was  to  be  re-established  in  favour  of  the  constable, 
and  France,  shared  between  Spain  and  England, 
would  cease  to  exist  as  a  nation.  He  soon  enjoyed 
the  misfortunes  of  his  country.  As  general  of  the 
armies  of  the  emperor,  he  saw  the  French  fly  be- 
fore him  at  Brigassa;  he  beheld  the  Chevalier 


MODERN    HISTORY.  159 

Bayard  mortally  wounded,  lying  at  the  foot  of  a 
tree  with  his  face  towards  the  enemy,  and  said  to 
him  "  that  he  felt  great  pain  at  seeing  him  in  this 
state,  who  had  been  so  virtuous  a  chevalier." 
Bayard  replied,  "  Sir,  pity  me  not,  for  I  die  a  man 
of  honour.  But  I  pity  you,  who  fight  against  your 
king,  your  country,  and  your  oath." 

Bourbon  believed  that,  at  his  first  appearance  in 
France,  his  vassals  would  rank  themselves  with 
him  under  the  imperial  banners.  Not  a  being 
moved.  The  Imperialists  were  repulsed  at  the 
siege  of  Marseilles,  and  only  saved  their  exhaust- 
ed army  by  a  retreat,  which  seemed  more  like  a 
flight.  Instead  of  overthrowing  the  Imperialists  in 
Provence,  the  king  preferred  to  precede  them  into 
Italy. 

Pavia,  1523. — At  an  epoch  of  military  sci- 
ence and  tactics,  Francis  I.  believed  himself  still 
in  an  age  of  chivalry.  He  made  it  a  point  of  hon- 
our not  to  retreat,  even  to  conquer.  With  an  ob- 
stinate courage,  he  maintained  the  siege  of  Pavia 
(1523).  He  gave  no  time  to  the  badly-paid  Im- 
perialists to  disperse  of  themselves.  He  weaken- 
ed his  army  by  sending  a  detachment  of  12,000 
soldiers  towards  Naples.  His  superiority  consist- 
ed in  his  artillery  ;  he  wished  to  decide  the  victory 
by  the  gendarmerie,  as  at  Marignan ;  he  precipita- 
ted himself  before  his  artillery,  and  rendered  it  use- 


160  SUMMARY    OF 

less.  The  Swiss  fled ;  the  Landsknechts,  with 
their  colonel,  the  White  Rose*  were  entirely  de- 
stroyed. Then  all  the  weight  of  the  battle  fell 
upon  the  king  and  his  gendarmerie.  The  old 
heroes  of  the  wars  of  Italy,  Parlisse,  and  Tre- 
mouille,  were  laid  prostrate  ;  the  King  of  Navarre, 
Montmorency,  the  Adventurous^  and  a  great  many 
others,  were  made  prisoners.  Francis  I.  defended 
himself  on  foot ;  his  horse  had  been  killed  under 
him,  and  his  armour,  which  we  still  have,  was  all 
indented  by  the  force  of  bullets  and  lances.  Happi- 
ly, one  of  the  French  gentlemen,  who  had  revolted 
with  Bourbon,  perceived  him,  and  saved  his  life ; 
but  he  would  not  surrender  himself  to  a  traitor,  and 
he  sent  for  the  viceroy  of  Naples,  who  received 
his  sword  on  his  knees.  According  to  tradition, 
he  wrote  in  the  evening  a  single  word  to  his 
mother:  "Madame,  all  is  lost  except  our  Aon- 
our!"\ 

Captivity  of  the  King  —  Treaty  of  Madrid. — 
Charles  V.  knew  well  that  all  was  not  lost ;  he  did 
not  exaggerate  his  success ;  he  felt  that  France 
was  strong  and  entire,  notwithstanding  the  loss  of 

*  The  Duke  of  Suffolk.  t  The  Marshal  de  Fleurangei. 

t  See  the  letter,  in  which  Charles  V.  informs  the  Marquis  de  Denia 
of  the  captivity  of  Francis  I.  (Sandoval,  pt.  i.,  b.  vii.  0  H>  ?•  487,  fol., 
Antwerp,  1581),  and  the  letter  of  Louise  de  Savoy,  written  to  the  em- 
peror in  favour  of  her  son,  and  that  of  Francis  I.  to  the  different  orders 
of  the  state,  and  the  Act  of  Abdication,  vol.  xxii.,  p.  69,  71,  and  84  of 
the  Collection  of  Memoirs. 


MODERN    HISTORY.  161 

an  army.  He  hoped  only  to  draw  from  his  pris- 
oner an  advantageous  treaty.  Francis  I.  had  ar- 
rived in  Spain,  judging  from  his  own  feelings  that  it 
would  be  sufficient  for  him  to  see  his  good  brother 
in  order  to  be  sent  back  honourably  to  his  kingdom. 
But  he  did  not  find  it  so.  The  emperor  ill  treated 
his  prisoner  to  obtain  from  him  a  richer  ransom. 
In  the  mean  time,  Europe  evinced  the  highest  in- 
terest in  behalf  of  this  soldier  king*  Erasmus, 
the  subject  of  Charles  V.,  dared  to  write  to  him  in 
favour  of  his  captive.  The  Spanish  nobles  de- 
manded that  he  might  be  a  prisoner  on  parole,  and 
offered  themselves  as  his  security.  But  it  was 
only  at  the  expiration  of  a  year,  when  Charles  V. 
feared  that  his  prisoner  might  escape  from  him  by 
death,  and  when  Francis  I.  had  abdicated  in  fa- 
vour of  the  dauphin,  that  he  decided  to  release  him, 
making  him  sign  a  most  disgraceful  treaty.  The 
King  of  France  renounced  his  pretensions  to  Italy 
— promised  to  do  justice  to  the  claims  of  Bourbon — 
to  yield  Burgundy — to  give  his  two  sons  as  host- 
ages, and  to  ally  himself  by  a  double  marriage 
with  the  family  of  Charles  V.  (1526). 

At  this  price  Francis  was  free.  But  he  did 
not  leave  that  fatal  prison  as  he  had  entered  it ;  he 
left  behind  that  noble  frankness  of  character,  that 

*  The  expression  of  Montluc,  speaking  to  Francis  I.  himself,  vol.  xxi., 
p.vi. 

O2 


162  SUMMARY    OF 

heroic  confidence  which,  until  then,  had  formed 
his  glory.  Even  at  Madrid  he  had  secretly  pro- 
tested against  the  treaty.  Reinstated  as  king,  it 
was  not  difficult  for  him  to  elude  it.  Henry  VIII., 
alarmed  at  the  victory  of  Charles  V.,  had  allied 
himself  with  France.  The  pope,  Venice,  Flor- 
ence, Genoa,  even  the  Duke  of  Milan,  who,  since 
the  battle  of  Pavia,  had  all  been  in  the  power 
of  the  imperial  armies,  now  regarded  the  French 
only  as  liberators.  Francis  I.  caused  the  States 
of  Burgundy  to  proclaim  that  he  had  no  authority 
to  give  up  any  part  of  France  ;  and  when  Charles 
V.  claimed  the  performance  of  the  treaty,  accusing 
him  of  perfidy,  he  replied  that  he  lied  from  his 
throat,  and  challenged  him  to  meet  him  in  the  field, 
at  the  same  time  proffering  to  the  emperor  a  choice 
of  weapons. 

Taking  of  Rome,  1527.  —  While  Europe  was 
expecting  a  terrible  war,  Francis  I.  thought  only 
how  to  make  a  compromise  with  his  allies,  in  order 
to  alarm  Charles  V.,  and  ameliorate  the  conditions 
of  the  treaty  of  Madrid.  Italy  remained  a  prey  to 
the  most  hideous  war  which  had  ever  dishonoured 
humanity ;  it  was  less  of  a  war  than  a  long  chastise- 
ment inflicted  by  a  ferocious  soldiery  upon  a  dis- 
armed people.  The  badly-paid  troops  of  Charles 
V.  would  neither  obey  him  nor  any  other  power ; 
they  even  ruled  their  generals.  During  ten  entire 


MODERN    HISTORY.  163 

months  Milan  was  abandoned  to  the  barbarity  of 
the  Spaniards.  As  soon  as  it  was  known  in  Ger- 
many that  Italy  was  thus  delivered  up  to  pillage, 
thirteen  or  fourteen  thousand  Gehnans  passed  the 
Alps,  commanded  by  George  Frondsberg,  a  furi- 
ous Lutheran,  who  wore  a  chain  of  gold  on  his 
neck,  with  which  he  said  he  designed  to  strangle 
the  pope.  Bourbon  and  Leyva  led,  or,  rather,  fol- 
lowed this  army  of  brigands.  It  gathered,  as 
they  proceeded,  a  crowd  of  Italians,  who  practised 
the  vices  of  the  barbarians,  though  they  could  not 
imitate  their  valour.  The  army  took  the  road 
through  Ferrara  and  Bologna ;  it  was  on  the  point 
of  entering  Tuscany,  arid  the  Spaniards  swore  only 
by  the  glorious  pillage  of  Florence.  A  more  power- 
ful impulse,  however,  led  the  Germans,  as  it  had  for- 
merly their  predecessors,  the  Goths,  towards  Rome. 
Clement  VII.,  who  had  made  a  treaty  with  the 
Viceroy  of  Naples,  seeing  the  army  of  Bourbon 
approach,  seemed  to  blind  himself,  or,  rather,  ap- 
peared to  be  fascinated  by  the  very  greatness  of 
the  danger.  He  discharged  his  best  troops  at  the 
approach  of  the  Imperialists,  believing,  perhaps, 
that  Rome  disarmed  would  inspire  them  with  some 
respect.  On  the  morning  of  the  6th  of  May, 
Bourbon  commenced  the  assault  (1527).  He  wore 
a  white  uniform,  that  he  might  be  more  easily  dis- 
tinguished by  his  own,  and  by  the  enemy's  men. 


164  SUMMARY   OF 

In  such  an  odious  enterprise,  success  alone  could 
restore  his  self-esteem.  Perceiving  that  his  Ger- 
man foot-soldiers  but  slowly  aided  him,  he  seized 
a  ladder  and  mounted  it,  when  a  ball  struck  his 
loins ;  he  felt  that  the  blow  was  fatal,  and  ordered 
his  attendants  to  cover  his  body  with  his  cloak, 
and  thus  to  conceal  his  fall.  His  soldiers  but  too 
well  avenged  his  death.  From  seven  to  eight 
thousand  Romans  were  massacred  the  first  day ; 
nothing  was  spared,  neither  convents  nor  churches; 
not  even  St.  Peter's.  The  streets  were  strewed 
with  relics,  and  with  the  ornaments  of  the  altars, 
which  the  Germans  threw  away,  after  having 
stripped  them  of  the  gold  and  silver.  The  Span- 
iards, still  more  rapacious  and  cruel,  renewed  every 
day,  during  nearly  a  year,  the  most  frightful  atroci- 
ties of  the  victory  ;  everywhere  was  heard  the  cry 
of  miserable  beings  whom  they  tortured  even  to 
death,  to  make  them  confess  if  they  had  concealed 
any  money.  Often  they  tied  them  in  their  houses, 
that  they  might  find  them  again  when  they  wished 
to  renew  their  torture. 

Lautrec — Doria. — Great  was  the  indignation  of 
Europe  when  it  heard  of  the  pillage  of  Rome,  and 
of  the  captivity  of  the  pope.  Charles  V.  ordered 
prayers  for  the  deliverance  of  the  pontiff,  who  was 
more  a  prisoner  of  the  imperial  army  than  of  the  em- 
peror. Francis  I.  believed  this  a  favourable  mo- 


MODERN    HISTORY.  165 

merit  to  introduce  those  troops  into  Italy,  which 
some  months  sooner  might  have  saved  Rome  and 
Milan.  Lautrec  marched  towards  Naples,  while 
the  imperial  generals  negotiated  with  their  soldiers, 
to  induce  them  to  leave  Rome  ;  but,  as  in  the  first 
wars,  they  gave  them  no  money.  The  plague  de- 
stroyed the  French  army.  Yet  nothing  was  lost 
as  long  as  they  preserved  m  '.ntercourse  with  France 
by  sea.  Francis  I.  most  imprudently  displeased 
the  Genoese  Doria,  the  first  mariner  of  the  age. 
It  seems,  said  Montluc,  that  the  sea  dreads  this  man. 
They  kept  from  him  the  ransom  of  the  Prince  of 
Orange  ;  they  did  not  pay  the  mariners  of  his  gal- 
leys, and  they  appointed  to  his  prejudice  an  ad- 
miral of  the  Levant ;  and  what  irritated  him  still 
more  was,  that  Francis  I.  did  not  respect  the  privi- 
leges of  Genoa,  and  wished  to  transport  to  Savona 
the  commerce  of  that  city.  Instead  of  compen- 
sating him  for  these  various  grievances,  the  king 
gave  orders  to  arrest  him.  Doria,  whose  engage 
ment  with  France  had  just  expired,  offered  himself 
to  the  emperor  on  condition  that  his  country  should 
be  independent,  and  again  govern  in  Liguria. 
Charles  V.  offered  to  acknowledge  him  for  Prince 
of  Genoa,  but  Doria  preferred  to  be  the  first  citizen 
of  a  free  city. 

Treaty  of  Cambray,  1529. — In  the  mean  time, 
the  two  nations  desired  peace.     Charles  V.  was 


166  SUMMARY   OF 

Alarmed  at  the  progress  of  the  Reformation,  and  by 
the  invasion  of  the  terrible  Solyman,  who  had  just 
encamped  before  Vienna.  Francis  I.,  whose  re- 
sources were  exhausted,  thougnt  only  how  to 
restore  his  wasted  kingdom  at  the  expense  of  his 
allies.  He  wished  to  redeem  his  children,  and  to 
retain  Burgundy.  Even  when  at  the  point  of  sign- 
ing the  treaty,  he  protested  to  his  allies  of  Italy 
that  he  would  not  separate  his  interests  from  theirs. 
He  refused  permission  to  the  Florentines  to  make 
a  separate  peace  with  the  emperor,  and  he  signed 
the  treaty  of  Cambray,  by  which  he  abandoned 
them,  the  Venitians,  and  all  his  partisans,  to  the 
vengeance  of  Charles  V.  (1529).  This  wretched 
treaty  forever  banished  the  French  power  from 
Italy.  From  that  time  the  principal  theatre  of 
war  will  be  everywhere  else  :  in  Savoy,  in  Picardy, 
in  the  Netherlands,  and  in  Lorraine. 

Charles  V.  in  Africa,  1535.— While  the  Chris- 
tian world  hoped  to  enjoy  some  tranquillity,  a 
plague,  until  then  unknown,  depopulated  the  shores 
of  Italy  and  of  Spain.  Towards  this  period,  the  cor- 
sairs of  Barbary  began  to  make  the  treaty  des  llancs. 
The  Turks  first  devastated  the  countries  which  they 
intended  to  invade ;  it  was  thus  that  they  made 
almost  a  desert  of  Southern  Hungary,  and  of  the 
western  provinces  of  the  ancient  Grecian  Empire. 
The  Tartars  and  the  infidels  of  the  Barbary  States 


MODERN    HISTORY.  167 

skirmishing  troops  of  the  Ottoman  power,  contrib- 
uted, the  one  in  the  East,  the  other  in  the  South, 
to  this  system  of  depopulation.  The  knights  of 
Rhodes,  whom  Charles  V.  had  established  on  the 
island  of  Malta,  were  too  weak  to  clear  the  sea  of 
those  innumerable  vessels  with  which  Barbarossa, 
the  Dey  of  Tunis,  and  the  Admiral  of  Solyman 
had  covered  it.  Charles  V.  resolved  to  attack  the 
pirate  in  his  own  retreat  (1535).  Five  hundred 
vessels  transported  to  Africa  an  aspy  of  thirty 
thousand  men,  composed  in  great  part  of  veteran 
troops,  who  had  been  engaged  in  the  wars  of  Italy. 
The  pope  and  the  King  of  Portugal  had  .enlarged 
this  fleet.  Doria  had  joined  his  galleys  to  it,  and 
the  emperor  himself,  with  the  elite  of  the  Spanish 
nobility,  embarked  in  it.  Barbarossa  had  not  forces 
enough  to  oppose  the  most  formidable  armament 
which  the  Christian  world  had  sent  against  the 
infidels  since  the  Crusades.  Goletta  was  taken  by 
assault,  Tunis  surrendered  itself,  and  20,000  Chris- 
tians delivered  from  slavery,  and  brought  back  to 
their  country  at  the  expense  of  the  emperor,  caused 
all  Europe  to  bless  the  name  of  Charles  V. 

Alliance  of  Francis  I.  with  Solyman. — The  con- 
duct of  Francis  I.  presents  a  painful  contrast. 
He  had  just  declared  his  alliance  with  Solyman, 
when  he  made  a  treaty  with  the  Protestants  of 
Germany,  and  with  Henry  VIII.,  who  had  repudi- 


168  SUMMARY  OF 

ated  the  aunt  of  Charles  V.,  and  had  abandoned  the 
Church.  Neither  of  them  afforded  the  aid  which 
he  had  expected  from  them.  Solyman  had  gone 
to  lose  his  janizaries  in  the  boundless  plains  of 
Asia.  Henry  VIII.  was  too  much  occupied  with 
the  religious  revolution  in  his  own  kingdom,  which 
proceeded  with  so  much  violence.  The  confeder- 
ates of  Smalcalde  had  no  confidence  in  a  prince 
who  caressed  the  Protestants  at  Dresden,  and 
burned  themin  Paris.  Francis  I.  was  not  deterred 
from  renewing  the  war ;  he  invaded  Savoy,  and 
threatened  Milan  (1585).  The  Duke  of  Savoy, 
alarmed  by  the  claims  of  the  mother  of  the  King 
of  France  (Louise  of  Savoy),  had  espoused  the 
sister-in-law  of  Charles  V.  The  Duke  of  Milan, 
accused  by  the  emperor  of  making  a  treaty  with 
the  French,  endeavoured  to  exculpate  himself  from 
the  charge  by  having,  on  some  trifling  pretext,  the 
ambassador  of  Francis  I.  beheaded.  Charles  V. 
announced  in  Rome,  in  the  presence  of  the  envoys 
from  all  the  Christian  world,  that  he  was  assured 
of  victory,  and  declared  that,  "  if  he  had  not  more 
resources  than  his  rival,  he  would  go  that  moment, 
with  his  arms  tied,  a  cord  around  his  neck,  and 
throw  himself  at  the  feet  of  Francis  and  implore 
his  pity."  Before  commencing  the  campaign,  he 
shared  between  his  officers  the  domains  and  the 
grand  dignities  of  the  crown  of  France. 


MODERN    HISTORY.  169 

Provincial  Legions. — In  fact,  all  the  world  be- 
lieved that  Francis  I.  was  lost.  They  knew  not 
what  resources  France  had  within  itself.  Since 
1533,  the  king  had  decided  to  concentrate  the 
military  strength  of  France  in  the  infantry,  and  in 
a  national  infantry.  He  remembered  that  the 
Swiss  had  caused  the  loss  of  the  battle  of  Bicoque, 
and  perhaps  that  of  Pavia ;  that  the  landknechts 
had  been  withdrawn  by  the  emperor  on  the  eve 
of  the  battle  of  Ravenna.  But  thus  to  give  arms 
to  the  people  was,  they  said,  running  a  great  risk.* 
In  an  ordinance  on  the  privileges  of  the  chase, 
passed  in  1517,  he  had  forbidden  any  subject  car- 
rying arms  under  the  severest  penalty;  yet  now 
he  decided  to  form  seven  provincial  legions,  each 
of  6000  men,  and  drawn  from  the  frontier  prov- 
inces. These  troops  were  still  undisciplined, 
when  the  armies  of  Charles  V.  entered  at  the 
same  time  into  Provence,  Champagne,  and  Pi- 
cardy.  As  Francis  I.  did  not  rely  upon  their  val- 
our, he  resolved  to  arrest  the  enemy  by  devasta- 

*  At  the  first  sound  of  war,  King  Francis  organized  the  legionaries, 
which  was  a  very  good  expedient,  had  it  only  been  followed  up ;  for  this 
is  the  true  way  to  secure  having  always  a  good  army  on  foot,  as  the 
Romans  did,  and  to  keep  the  people  disciplined,  although  I  know  not  if 
this  be  a  benefit  or  an  evil.  The  question  is  not  a  small  one  :  Shall  I 
prefer  to  trust  myself  to  my  countrymen,  or  strangers?  (Montluc,  vol. 
xr.,  p.  385).  The  Memoirs  of  Montluc  and  De  Tdvanes  show  that  some 
gentlemen  were  placed  in  each  legion,  and  that  the  bravest  were  those 
containing  the  most. 


170  SUMMARY    OF 

ting  the  country.  All  of  Provence  from  the  Alps 
to  Marseilles,  and  from  the  sea  to  Dauphiny,  was 
laid  waste  with  inflexible  severity,  by  the  Marshal 
Montmorency ;  villages,  farms,  mills,  were  all 
burned,  and  not  an  appearance  of  cultivation  re-j 
mained.  The  marshal,  established  in  an  impregna- 
ble camp  between  the  Rhone  and  Durance,  was 
quietly  waiting  for  the  destruction  of  the  emperor's 
army,  which  was  before  Marseilles.  Charles  V. 
was  compelled  to  retreat,  and  was  obliged  to  con- 
sent to  a  truce,  of  which  the  pope  was  the  medi- 
ator (truce  of  Nice,  1538).  A  month  after,  Charles 
and  Francis  met  at  Aigues-Mortes  ;  and  these 
princes,  who  had  treated  each  other  so  outrage- 
ously, one  of  whom  accused  the  other  of  having 
poisoned  the  dauphin,  now  exchanged  every  as- 
surance of  fraternal  affection. 

Feebleness  of  Charles  V.  —  The  only  cause  of 
the  truce  was  the  exhausted  power  of  the  two  ri- 
vals. Charles  V.  endeavoured  to  gain  the  Cortes 
of  Castile  by  authorizing  a  permanent  deputation 
in  imitation  of  that  of  Aragon,  and  by  renewing 
the  law  which  excluded  strangers  from  offices  of 
the  government ;  yet  he  was  not  able  to  obtain, 
money  either  in  1527,  or  in  1533,  or  in  1538.  The 
city  of  Ghent  had  taken  up  arms  rather  than  pay  a 
new  tax.  The  administration  of  Mexico  was  not 
yet  organized  ;  Peru,  as  yet,  belonged  only  to  those 


MODERN    HISTORY.  171 

who  had  conquered  it,  and  who  desolated  it  by 
their  civil  wars.  The  emperor  had  been  obliged 
to  sell  a  great  part  of  the  royal  domains  ;  he  had 
contracted  a  debt  of  seven  millions  of  ducats,  and 
could  find  no  bank  which  would  loan  at  13  or  14 
per  cent.  This  penury  excited  towards  1539  a 
revolt,  which  was  almost  universal  in  the  armies 
of  Charles  V.  They  rebelled  in  Sicily,  pillaged 
Lombardy,  and  threatened  to  deliver  Goletta  to 
Barbarossa.  The  means  to  pay  the  arrears  due 
to  the  soldiers,  and  to  disband  the  greater  part  of 
them,  had  to  be  found,  and  at  any  price. 

Feebleness  of  Francis  I. — The  King  of  France 
was  scarcely  less  embarrassed.  Since  the  reign 
of  Charles  VIII.;  the  wealth  of  the  nation  had 
been  rapidly  developed  through  the  effects  of  its 
internal  tranquillity,  but  the  expenses  exceeded  by 
far  the  resources.  Charles  VII.  had  1700  armed 
men.  Francis  I.  had  3000,  without  counting  6000 
light-horsemen,  and  often  twelve  or  fifteen  thousand 
Swiss.  Charles  VII.  levied  less  than  two  millions 
of  taxes  ;  Louis  XL  five  millions,  and  Francis  I. 
near  nine  millions.  Since  1484,*  the  kings  had 
not  assembled  the  States-General  to  supply  these 
expenses.  They  had  substituted  for  them  the  as- 
semblies of  the  notables  (1526),  and  more  fre- 
quently had  raised  money  by  ordinances,  which 

*  Once  only  at  Tours  in  1506,  and  then  only  to  annul  the  treaty  of  Blois. 


172  SUMMARY    OF 

they  made  the  Parliament  of  Paris  register.  Louis 
XII.,  the  father  of  the  people,  first  diminished  the 
taxes,  and  farmed  them  out  (1499) ;  but  towards 
the  end  of  his  reign  he  was  obliged  to  increase 
the  duties,  to  make  loans,  and  to  alienate  the  royal 
domains  (1511-1514).  Francis  I.  established  new 
taxes  (particularly  in  1525),  sold  and  multiplied 
judicial  offices  (1515,  1522,  1524),  founded  the 
first  perpetual  revenue  upon  the  Hotel  de  Ville, 
transferred  the  royal  domains  (1532-1544),  and 
instituted  the  Royal  Lottery  (1539). 

In  this  facility  of  ruining  himself  Francis  I.  had 
the  advantage  over  Charles  V.  He  availed  him- 
self of  it  when  the  emperor  had  failed  in  his  great 
expedition  against  Algiers  (1541-1542).  Two 
years  before,  Charles  V.,  passing  through  France, 
when  on  his  way  to  repress  the  revolt  of  Ghent, 
had  amused  the  king  with  a  promise  to  give  to  his 
second  son,  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  the  investiture 
of  Milan.  The  Duchess  d'Etampes,  whe  governed 
the  king,  seeing  his  powers  weakened,  and  fearing 
the  enmity  of  Diana  of  Poictiers,  the  mistress  of 
the  dauphin,  made  great  efforts  to  procure  for  the 
Duke  of  Orleans  an  independent  establishment, 
where  she  might  also  find  an  asylum  at  the  death 
of  Francis  I.  Add  to  this  principal  cause  of  the 
war  the  assassination  of  two  French  envoys,  who, 
crossing  Italy  to  go  to  the  court  of  Solyman,  were 


MODERN    HISTORY.  173 

killed  in  Milan  by  the  order  of  the  imperial  gov- 
ernor, who  seized  their  despatches.  Francis  re- 
lied upon  his  alliance  with  the  Turks,  and  upon 
his  treaty  with  the  Protestant  princes  of  Germany, 
of  Denmark,  and  of  Sweden;  he  attached  Will- 
iam, duke  of  Cleves,  particularly  to  himself,  by 
making  him  espouse  his  niece,  Jeanne  d'Albret, 
who  afterward  became  the  mother  of  Henry  IV. ; 
he  invaded,  at  almost  the  same  time,  Roussillon, 
Piedmont,  Luxembourg,  Brabant,  and  Flanders. 
Solyman  joined  his  fleet  to  that  of  France ;  they 
bombarded  the  castle  of  Nice  in  vain.  But  the 
odious  spectacle  of  the  crescent  united  to  the 
fleurs  de  Us  alienated  all  the  Christian  world  from 
the  King  of  France.  Even  those  who,  until  now, 
had  favoured  him,  became  regardless  of  the  inter- 
ests of  Europe,  in  order  to  unite  themselves  with 
Charles  V.  The  empire  declared  itself  against 
the  alliance  with  the  Turks.  The  King  of  Eng- 
land, who  had  been  reconciled  to  Charles  since 
the  death  of  Catharine  of  Aragon,  joined  the  party 
against  the  King  of  France,  who  had  given  his 
daughter  to  the  King  of  Scotland.  Henry  VIII. 
defeated  James  V.  (1543);  Charles  V.  overthrew 
the  Duke  of  Cleves  (1543) ;  and  having  nothing 
more  to  fear  in  the  rear,  they  both  agreed  to  invade 
the  dominions  of  Francis  I.  France  alone,  with 
all  against  her,  displayed  an  unexpected  vigour ; 
P2 


174:  SUMMARY    OF 

she  fought  with  five  armies,  and  astonished  the 
confederates  by  the  brilliant  victory  at  Cerisoles ; 
the  infantry  gained  that  battle,  lost  by  the  gen- 
darmerie. Charles  V.,  badly  supported  by  Henry 
VIII.,  and  recalled  by  the  progress  of  Solyman  in 
Hungary,  signed,  at  thirteen  leagues  from  Paris,  a 
treaty,  by  which  Francis  renounced  his  claims  to 
Naples,  Charles  his  to  Burgundy.  The  Duke  of 
Orleans  was  to  take  possession  of  Milan  (1545). 
The  King  of  France  and  Henry  VIII.  soon  pro- 
claimed peace,  and  they  both  died  in  the  same 
year  (1549). 

The  long  contest  between  the  two  great  powers 
of  Europe  is  not  yet  terminated ;  but,  for  the  fu- 
ture, it  is  combined  with  religious  interests,  which 
we  cannot  comprehend  without  tracing  the  prog- 
ress of  the  Reformation  in  Germany.  We  will 
stop  here,  and  take  a  retrospect  of  the  past,  and 
examine  what  has  been  the  internal  situation  of 
Spain  and  of  France  during  the  rivalry  of  Francis 
I.  and  Charles  V. 

Spain. — In  Spain,  royalty  was  speedily  verging 
towards  that  absolute  power  which  it  had  attained 
in  France.  Charles  V.  imitated  the  example  of 
his  father,  and  made  several  laws  without  the 
sanction  of  the  Cortes.  In  1538,  the  nobles  and 
the  prelates  of  Castile,  having  rejected  the  general 
tax  of  the  Sisa,  which  would  have  been  raised  upon 


MODERN    HISTORY.  175 

the  sale  of  provisions  by  retail,  the  King  of  Spain 
ceased  to  convoke  them,  alleging  that  they  had 
no  right  to  vote  taxes  which  they  did  not  pay. 
The  Cortes  were  composed  of  but  thirty-six  dep- 
uties, sent  by  eighteen  cities,  which  alone  were 
represented.  The  nobles  repented  too  late  of 
having  joined  the  king,  for  the  purpose  of  over- 
throwing the  Communeros,  in  1521. 

The  power  of  the  Spanish  Inquisition  increased 
more  rapidly  as  Charles  V.  became  more  alarm- 
ed at  the  commotions  in  Germany,  and  more  ap- 
prehensive for  the  political  consequences  of  re- 
ligious innovations.  The  Inquisition  was  intro- 
duced into  the  Netherlands  in  1522,  and  if  the 
Neapolitans  had  not  most  obstinately  resisted,  it 
would  have  been  established  among  them  in  1546. 
After  having  withdrawn  from  the  Inquisition  the 
right  of  exercising  the  royal  jurisdiction  (in  Spain 
1535-1543,  in  Sicily  1535-1550),  it  was  again 
given  to  them.  Since  1539,  the  inquisitor-gen- 
eral, Tabera,  had  governed  Spain  in  the  absence  of 
the  emperor,  in  the  name  of  the  Infante,  afterward 
Philip  II. 

The  reign  of  Francis  I.  was  the  most  brilliant 
era  in  the  history  of  royal  power  in  France  before 
the  ministry  of  the  Cardinal  Richelieu.  He  com- 
menced by  concentrating  in  his  own  hands  the  ec- 
clesiastical power  by  means  of  the  Treaty  of  the 


176  SUMMARY   OF 

Concordat  (1515),  limited  the  ecclesiastical  juris- 
diction (1559),  organized  a  system  of  police,  and 
silenced  the  Parliaments.  The  Parliament  of  Paris 
had  been  weakened  under  Charles  VII.  and  Louis 
XL  by  the  formation  of  the  Parliaments  of  Greno- 
ble, Bordeaux,  and  Dijon  (1451, 1462, 1477) ;  under 
Louis  XII.  by  the  Parliaments  of  Rouen  and  Aix 
(1499, 1501).  During  the  captivity  of  Francis  I., 
the  Parliament  endeavoured  to  recover  some  impor- 
tance, and  commenced  a  prosecution  against  the 
Chancellor  Duprat.  But  the  king,  after  his  resto- 
ration, forbade  them  to  interfere  with  political  af- 
fairs, and  again  deprived  them  of  their  influence 
by  increasing  the  offices  under  government,  and 
authorizing  them  to  be  sold. 

Francis  I.  boasted  that  he  had  placed  kings 
from  henceforth  beyond  control.  But  the  increas- 
ing agitation  of  men's  minds  which  we  remark  un- 
der his  reign,  augured  new  troubles.  That  spirit 
of  freedom  which  was  now  applying  itself  to  re- 
ligion was  one  day  to  enter  with  redoubled  vigour 
into  political  institutions.  First,  the  reformers  made 
remonstrances  against  the  manners  of  the  clergy ; 
the  Colloqwa  of  Erasmus,  of  which  there  were 
24,000  copies,  were  quickly  exhausted.  The 
Psalms,  translated  by  Marot,  were  adapted  to  the 
airs  of  romance  and  sung  by  gentlemen  and  ladies 
at  the  court,  while  the  ordinance  which  required 


MODERN    HISTORY.  177 

the  statutes,  to  be  hereafter  written  in  French, 
enabled  all  the  world  to  know  and  to  discuss 
political  affairs  (1538).  The  court  of  Margaret 
of  Navarre,  and  that  of  the  Duchess  of  Ferrara, 
Reno  of  France,  were  the  rendezvous  of  all  the 
partisans  of  the  new  opinions.  The  greatest  levity 
of  mind  and  the  most  profound  fanaticism,  Marot 
and  Calvin,  met  each  other  at  Nerac.  Francis  I. 
had  at  first  seen  these  commotions  without  appre- 
hension. He  had  protected  the  first  Protestants 
of  France  against  the  clergy  (1523-1524).  In 
1534,  when  he  wished  to  make  a  treaty  with  the 
Protestants  of  Germany,  he  requested  Melancthon 
to  present  a  conciliatory  confession  of  faith.  He 
favoured  the  revolution  of  Geneva,  which  became 
the  focus  of  Calvinism  (1535).  Yet,  since  his  re- 
turn from  Madrid,  he  had  become  more  severe  to- 
wards the  Protestants  of  France.  In  1527  and  in 
1534  the  fermentation  caused  by  the  new  doctrines 
being  manifested  by  outrages  towards  the  images 
of  saints,  and  by  placards  affixed  to  the  Louvre, 
several  Protestants  were  burned  by  a  slow  fire,  in 
presence  of  the  king  and  of  all  the  court.  In  1535 
he  ordered  the  suppression  of  the  printing  offices, 
under  pain  of  death ;  but  upon  the  remonstrance 
of  Parliament  in  the  same  year,  he  revoked  that 
ordinance,  in  order  to  establish  the  censorship. 
The  end  of  the  reign  of  Francis  1.  was  marked 


178  SUMMARY   OF 

by  a  frightful  event :  the  Vaudois,  who  were  in- 
habitants of  some  of  the  inaccessible  valleys  of 
Provence  and  Dauphiny,  had  retained  the  doc- 
trines  of  Arius,  and  were  about  to  adopt  those  of 
Calvin.  The  strength  of  their  positions  in  the 
midst  of  the  Alps  caused  some  apprehension,  and 
in  1540  the  Parliament  of  Aix  ordered  that  the 
two  principal  points  of  their  union,  Cabriere  and 
Merindol,  should  be  burned.  After  the  retreat  of 
Charles  V.  (1545),  the  decree  was  executed,  not- 
withstanding the  expostulations  of  Sadolet,  bishop  of 
Carpentras.  The  president  D'Oppede,  Guerin  the 
advocate  of  the  king,  and  Pauline,  the  old  envoy 
of  the  king  to  the  Turks,  penetrated  into  the  val- 
leys, and  with  barbarous  cruelty  exterminated  all 
the  inhabitants,  and  converted  the  whole  country 
into  a  desert.  This  terrible  catastrophe  may  be 
considered  as  one  of  the  first  causes  of  our  civil 
wars 


MODERN    HISTORY.  179 


CHAPTER  VII. 

LUTHER REFORMATION    IN    GERMANY WAR    OF 

THE    TURKS,    1517-1555. 

Luther  attacks  the  Sale  of  Indulgences,  1517.— He  burns  the  Pope's  Bull, 
1520.— Diet  of  Worms,  1521.— Secularization  of  Prussia,  1525.— 
War  of  the  Peasants  of  Swabia,  1524-5.— Anabaptists.— Catholic 
League,  1524.— Protestant  League,  1526.— War  of  the  Turks  ;  So- 
lyman,  1521.— Invasion  of  Hungary,  1526. — Siege  of  Vienna,  1529.— 
Diet  of  Spire,  1529.— Confession  of  Augsburg,  1530.— League  of 
Smallkalde,  1531.— Revolt  of  the  Anabaptists  of  Westphalia,  1534.— 
Troubles  and  internal  Wars  of  Germany,  1534-46.— Council  of  Trent, 
1545.— War  of  Charles  V.  against  the  Protestants  ;  Battle  of  Muhlberg, 
1547. — Revolt  of  Maurice  of  Saxony,  1551. — Peace  of  Augsburg, 
1555.— Death  of  Charles  V.,  1558. 

ALL  the  governments  of  Europe  had  attained  a 
monarchical  unity,  and  the  system  of  equilibrium 
(balance  of  power)  was  established  among  them, 
when  the  ancient  religious  unity  of  the  West  was 
broken  by  the  Reformation.  This  event,  the  great- 
est of  modern  times,  together  with  the  French 
Revolution,  separated  one  half  of  Europe  from  the 
Roman  Church,  and  led  to  the  greater  part  of  the 
revolutions  and  wars  which  took  place  before  the' 
treaty  of  Westphalia.  Since  the  Reformation,  we 
find  Europe  divided  in  a  manner  which  coincides 
with  the  division  of  races.  The  Roman  race  have 
remained  Catholics.  Protestantism  reigns  over 


180  SUMMARY    OF 

those  of  the  Germanic  race,  and  the  Greek  Church 
among  the  Slavonic  nations. 

Thejirst  epoch  of  the  Reformation  presents  Lu- 
ther and  Zwingle  in  opposition,  the  second  Calvin 
and  Socinus.  Luther  and  Calvin  retained  a  part 
of  the  dogmas  of  the  Church,  and  of  its  hierarchy. 
Zwingle  and  Socinus  reduced  religion  by  degrees 
to  deism.  The  pontifical  monarchy  was  over- 
thrown by  the  Lutheran  aristocracy,  and  this  is 
attacked  by  Calvinistic  democracy.  •  It  was  a  ref- 
ormation within  the  Reformation.  During  both  the 
first  and  second  periods,  some  ancient  anarchical 
sects,  who  were  composed  partly  of  prophetic  vis- 
ionaries, arose,  and  gave  to  the  Reformation  the 
formidable  aspect  of  a  war  against  society  ;  these 
were  the  Anabaptists  in  the  first  period,  the  Inde- 
pendents and  Levellers  in  the  second. 

The  principle  of  the  Reformation  was  essentially 
active  arid  progressive.  Divided  even  in  its  infan- 
cy, it  spread  itself  over  Europe  under  a  hundred 
different  forms.  Repulsed  in  Italy,  in  Spain,  in 
Portugal  (1526),  in  Poland  (1523),  the  privileges 
fallowed  to  the  Calistins  contributed  to  its  establish- 
ment in  Bohemia :  in  England  the  remembrance 
of  WicklifFe  was  its  support,  and  it  proceeded 
adapting  itself  to  every  degree  of  civilization,  and 
conforming  to  the  wants  of  every  country.  Demo- 
cratic in  Switzerland  (1525),  aristocratic  in  Den- 


MODERN    HISTORY.  181 

mark  (1527),  it  associated  itself  with  the  royal 
power  in  Sweden  (1529),  and  in  the  Empire  with 
the  cause  of  Germanic  privileges. 

§   I.    ORIGIN    OF    THE    REFORMATION. 

Reformation,  1517 — Leo.  X. — In  the  memora- 
ble year  1517,  from  which  we  generally  date  the 
commencement  of  the  Reformation,  neither  Europe 
nor  the  pope,  nor  Luther  himself,  had  dreamed  of 
so  great  an  event.  The  Christian  princes  had 
leagued  themselves  against  the  Turks.  Leo  X.  had 
invaded  the  duchy  of  Urbino,  and  raised  to  the 
highest  pinnacle  the  temporal  power  of  the  Holy 
See.  Notwithstanding  the  embarrassment  of  his 
finances,  which  obliged  him  to  make  a  sale  of  in- 
dulgences in  Germany,  and  to  create  at  one  time 
thirty-one  cardinals,  yet  he  lavished  with  prodi- 
gality the  treasures  of  the  Church  upon  artists  and 
men  of  letters.  He  sent  even  to  Denmark  and 
Sweden  in  search  of  monuments  of  the  history  of 
the  North.  He  authorized  the  sale  of  Orlando  Fu- 
rioso*  by  the  pope's  letter,  and  received  an  elo- 
quent epistle  from  Raphael  upon  the  restoration  of 
the  antiquities  of  Rome.  In  the  midst  of  these 
cares,  he  learned  that  a  professor  of  the  new  Uni- 
versity of  Wittemberg,  named  Martin  Luther,  al- 
ready known  by  having  in  the  preceding  year  vea- 

*  Published  in  1516. 


182  SUMMARY    OF 

tured  some  bold  opinions  in  matters  of  faith,  had 
just  attacked  the  sale  of  indulgences.  Leo  X.,  who 
himself  corresponded  with  Erasmus,  was  not 
alarmed  by  these  novelties  ;  he  replied  to  the  ac- 
cusers of  Luther  that  he  was  a  man  of  talents, 
and  that  the  whole  dispute  was  only  a  quarrel  of 
monks.* 

Luther. — The  University  of  Wittemberg  was 
founded  by  the  Elector  of  Saxony,  Frederic  the 
Wise,  and  was  one  of  the  first  in  Germany  where 
Platonism  had  triumphed  over  school  divinity,  and 
where  literary  instruction  was  associated  with  that 
of  law,  theology,  and  philosophy.  Luther  had  at 
first  studied  law,  afterward  he  became  monk,  and 
then,  having  taken  the  monastic  habit  in  a  fit  of  de- 
votion, he  had  resolved  to  seek  philosophy  from 
Plato,  and  religion  in  the  Bible.  But  he  was  less 
distinguished  by  his  extensive  knowledge  than  by 
a  vivid  and  passionate  eloquence,  and,  by  a  facility 
then  extraordinary,  of  discoursing  upon  philosoph- 
ical and  religious  subjects  in  his  mother  tongue  ; 
it  was  this  by  which  he  carried  away  all  the  world. f 
This  impetuous  spirit,  once  let  loose,  went  farther 
than  he  had  intended.^  He  attacked  first  the 

*  Che  fra  Martino  aveva  lellissimo  ingegno,  e  che  coteste  erano  in- 
vidie  fratesche.  t  Bossuet. 

t  Luther,  in  his  preface  to  the  Captivity  of  Babylon,  says,  '*  In  spite 
of  myself,  I  am  forced  to  become  wise,  from  day  to  day,  since  masters  so 
renowned  attack  me,  now  together,  then  separately.  I  have  written  for 


MODERN    HISTORY.  183 

abuse,  then  the  principle  of  indulgences,  after- 
ward the  intercession  of  saints,  auricular  confes- 
sion, purgatory,  the  celibacy  of  the  priests,  and 
transubstantiation  ;  finally,  the  authority  of  the 
Church,  and  the  character  of  her  visible  head.  He 
was  entreated  to  retract  by  the  legate  Cajetan,  but 
in  vain  ;  he  appealed  from  the  legate  to  the  pope, 
from  the  pope  to  a  general  council  ;  and  when  the 
pope  had  condemned  him  he  dared  to  retaliate, 
and  solemnly  burned  on  the  square  of  Wittemberg 
the  bull  of  condemnation  and  the  volumes  of  the 
canon  law  (15th  of  June,  1520). 

Zwingle. — An  act  so  daring  seized  all  Europe 
with  astonishment.  The  greater  part  of  the  sects 
and  heretics  had  formed  themselves  in  secret,  and 
would  have  been  happy  to  remain  unknown. 
Zwingle  himself,  whose  preaching  at  the  same 


ten  years  on  indulgences,  but  I  now  repent  that  I  published  this  little 
volume.  I  was  still  wavering,  from  a  superstitious  respect  for  the  tyr- 
anny of  Rome  ;  I  then  believed  that  indulgences  should  not  be  con- 
demned ;  but  since,  thanks  to  Sylvester  and  other  defenders  of  indul- 
gences, I  have  learned  that  they  are  but  an  invention  of  the  papal  court 
to  destroy  faith  in  God,  and  get  wealth  from  men.  Finally  came  Eccius 
and  Emser  with  their  band,  to  teach  me  the  supremacy  and  unlimited 
power  of  the  pope.  Not  to  show  myself  ungrateful  towards  such  learned 
men,  it  becomes  me  to  acknowledge  that  I  have  profited  much  by  their 
writings.  I  denied  that  popery  was  of  Divine  right ;  I  admitted  that  it 
wag  of  human  origin.  After  having  heard  and  read  the  subtleties  by 
which  these  poor  people  would  raise  their  idol,  I  am  convinced  that  the 
papacy  is  the  kingdom  of  Babylon  and  the  power  of  Nimrod,  the  strong 
huntsman." 


184  SUMMARY    OF 

period  had  withdrawn  half  the  Swiss  from  the  au- 
thority of  the  Holy  See,  did  not  announce  himself 
with  such  boldness.*  They  imagined  that  some- 
thing very  great  must  belong  to  him  who  had  con- 
stituted himself  the  judge  of  the  head  of  the  Church. 
Luther  pronounced  his  own  boldness  and  his  suc- 
cess a  miracle. 

Causes  which  favoured  the  Reformation. — In  the 
mean  time,  it  was  easy  to  perceive  how  many  fa- 
vourable circumstances  encouraged  the  reformer. 
The  pontifical  monarchy,  which  alone  had  brought 
some  harmony  into  the  anarchical  chaos  of  the 
Middle  Ages,  had  successively  been  weakened  by 
the  progress  of  royal  power  and  of  civil  order. 
The  scandals  with  which  a  great  proportion  of 


*  Zwingle,  a  cure  of  Zurich,  commenced  preaching  in  1516  :  the  can- 
tons of  Zurich,  of  Basle,  of  SchafFhausen,  of  Berne,  and  the  allied  cities 
of  St.  Gaul  and  of  Muhlhausen,  embraced  his  doctrine.  Those  of  Lu- 
cerne, Uri,  Schwitz,  Unterwalden,  Zug,  Fribourg,  Sololhurn,  and  Va- 
lais,  remained  faithful  to  the  Catholic  religion.  Glari  and  Appenzel 
were  divided.  The  inhabitants  of  the  Catholic  cantons,  democratic  in 
their  form  of  government,  and  dwelling  almost  altogether  without  the 
cities,  retained  their  ancient  forms  of  worship,  and  received  pensions 
from  the  pope  and  from  the  King  of  France.  Francis  I.  in  vain  offered 
himself  as  mediator  between  the  Swiss  ;  the  Catholic  cantons  would 
not  accept  the  proposed  pacification  ;  those  of  Zurich  and  of  Berne  cut 
off  their  supplies.  The  Catholics  invaded  the  territory  of  Zurich,  and 
gained  a  battle  over  the  Protestants,  in  which  Zwingle  was  killed,  fight- 
ing at  the  head  of  his  flock  (battle  of  Cappel,  1531).  The  Catholics, 
more  barbarous,  more  valiant,  and  less  rich,  would  have  conquered,  but 
they  were  not  able  to  support  the  war  for  so  long  a  time  as  the  Protest- 
ant cantons.— Sleidan.  Muller,  Univ.  Hist.,  vol.  ii.,  p.  159. 


MODERN   HISTORY.  185 

priests  afflicted  the  Church,  daily  undermined  an 
edifice  already  shaken  by  the  spirit  of  doubt  and 
of  contradiction.  Two  circumstances  contributed 
to  complete  her  ruin.  First,  the  invention  of 
printing  gave  to  the  innovators  of  the  sixteenth 
century  the  means  of  communicating  and  propa- 
gating their  tenets,  which  were  wanted  by  those 
of  the  Middle  Ages,  and  which  enabled  them  to  re- 
sist a  power  as  strongly  organized  as  that  of  the 
Church.  Afterward  the  financial  embarrassment 
of  many  of  the  princes  induced  them  to  avail  them- 
selves of  a  doctrine  which  placed  the  riches  of 
the  clergy  at  their  disposal.  Europe  at  that  pe- 
riod presented  a  remarkable  spectacle,  in  the  dis- 
proportion between  its  wants  and  its  resources,  a 
result  of  the  recent  elevation  of  a  central  power  in 
each  state.  The  Church  paid  the  balance..  Sev- 
eral Catholic  sovereigns  had  already  obtained  per- 
mission from  the  Holy  See  to  exercise  a  part  of 
its  privileges.  The  princes  of  the  North  of  Ger- 
many, whose  independence  was  threatened  by  the 
master  of  Peru  and  Mexico,  found  their  Indies 
in  the  secularization  of  ecclesiastical  wealth. 

Germany  necessarily  the  Birthplace  of  the  Refor- 
mation.— The  Reformation  had  already  been  at- 
tempted several  times  :  in  Italy  by  Arnold  of  Bres- 
cia, by  Waldus  in  France,  and  by  Wickliffe  in  Eng- 
land. But  in  Germany  it  was  to  have  a  firmer 
Q  2 


186  SUxMMARY    OF 

foundation.  The  German  clergy  were  richer,  and, 
consequently,  more  envied.  The  Episcopal  sover- 
eignties of  the  Empire  were  given  to  the  younger 
branches  of  noble  families,  who  brought  the  vio- 
lent and  scandalous  manners  of  worldly  men  into 
the  ecclesiastical  ranks.  But  the  greatest  hatred 
was  against  the  court  of  Rome,  against  the  Italian 
clergy,  whose  fiscal  genius  had  exhausted  Ger- 
many. From  the  time  of  the  Roman  Empire,  the 
constant  opposition  between  the  North  and  the 
South  seemed  as  if  personified  in  Germany  and 
Italy.  In  the  Middle  Ages  there  was  some  order 
in  the  combat ;  power  and  intellect,  violence  and 
politics,  the  feudal  system  and  Catholic  hierarchy, 
hereditary  succession  and  elective  government, 
were  prizes  in  the  contests  of  the  Empire  with  the 
priesthood ;  the  critical  spirit,  at  its  revival,  pre- 
faced an  examination  of  opinions  by  an  attack  upon 
persons.  In  the  fifteenth  century,  the  Hussites 
forced  some  concessions  by  a  war  of  thirty  years. 
In  the  sixteenth,  the  connexion  of  the  Italians 
with  the  Germans  only  served  to  augment  their 
ancient  antipathy.  Led  constantly  into  Italy  by 
the  wars,  the  men  of  the  North  w«re  scandalized 
.at  the  magnificence  of  the  popes,  and  those  pa- 
geantries with  which  worship  delights  to  sur- 
round itself  in  Southern  countries.  The  ignorance 
.of  the  Germans  increased  their  displeasure  ;  they 


MODERN    HISTORY.  187 

regarded  as  profane  all  that  they  could  not  com- 
prehend, and  when  they  repassed  the  Alps,  they 
excited  the  horror  of  their  barbarous  fellow-citi- 
zens by  describing  to  them  the  idolatrous  feasts 
of  the  new  Babylon. 

Diet  of  Worms,  1521  —  Luther  at  Wartburg. — 
Luther  knew  well  the  state  of  their  minds.  When 
he  was  summoned  by  the  new  emperor  to  the  Diet 
of  Worms,  he  did  not  hesitate  to  go  there.  His 
friends  reminded  him  of  the  fate  of  John  Huss.  "  I 
am  legally  summoned  to  appear  at  Worms,"  he  re- 
plied, "  and  should  I  see  conspired  against  me  as 
many  devils  as  there  are  tiles  on  the  roofs, 'I  would 
go  there  in  the  name  of  the  Lord."  A  great  number 
of  his  partisans  insisted  upon  attending  him,  and 
he  entered  the  city  escorted  by  a  hundred  armed 
knights.  Having  refused  to  retract,  notwithstand- 
ing the  public  request  and  the  private  solicitations 
of  the  princes  and  electors,  he  was  exiled  from 
the  Empire  a  few  days  after  his  departure.  Charles 
V.  also  declared  himself  against  the  Reformation. 
He  was  King  of  Spain  ;  he  needed  the  influence 
of  the  pope  in  his  affairs  in  Italy ;  finally,  his  title 
of  Emperor,  and  of  First  Sovereign  of  Europe, 
constituted  him  the  defender  of  the  ancient  faith. 
Similar  motives  influenced  Francis  I.  ;  the  new 
heresy  was  condemned  by  the  University  of  Paris. 
The  young  King  of  England,  Henry  VIII.,  who 


188  SUMMARY    OF 

made   pretensions   to   theology,  wrote   a   volume 
against  Luther.     But  he  found  zealous  defenders 
in   the   princes   of   Germany,    especially   in    the 
Elector  of  Saxony,  who  seemed  to  have  even  put 
him  forward.     This  prince  had  been  the  imperial 
vicar   in   the   interregnum,  and   it  was  then  that 
Luther  had  dared  to  burn  the  bull  of  the  pope. 
After  the  Diet  of  Worms,  the  elector,  thinking  that 
affairs  were  not  yet  matured,  resolved  to  preserve 
Luther  from  the  effects  of  his  own  impetuosity.    In 
returning  from  the  Diet  of  Worms,  when  in  the 
midst  of  the  forest  of  Thuringen,  Luther  was  carried 
off  by  some  masked  horseman,  who  concealed  him  in 
the  castle  of  Wartburg.     Shut  up  for  nearly  a  year 
in  this  place  of  captivity,  which,  however,  seemed 
to  have  governed  all  Germany,  the  Reformer  com- 
menced his  translation  of  the  Bible  into  the  Ger- 
man  language,  and  inundated   Europe   with   his 
writings.      These  theological  pamphlets,  printed 
as  soon  as  written,  penetrated  into  the  most  dis- 
tant provinces,  and  were  read  by  families  at  their 
evening  reunion ;  and  the  invisible  preacher  was 
heard   throughout  all    the   Empire.      Never  had 
writer  so  entirely  understood  the  feelings  of  the 
people.     His  fierce  audacity,  his  satirical  jesting, 
his  apostrophes  to  the  higher  powers  of  the  world, 
to  the  bishops,  to  the  pope,  to  the  King  of  England, 
whom  he  treated  with  a  magnificent  contempt  of 


MODERN    HISTORY.  189 

them  and  of  Satan,  charmed  and  excited  all  Ger- 
many ;  and  the  burlesque  parts  of  these  popular 
dramas  only  rendered  their  influence  more  sure. 
Erasmus,  Melancthon,  and  the  greater  number  of 
learned  men,  pardoned  the  proud  boasting  and  vul- 
garity of  Luther  for  the  violence  with  which  he 
attacked  the  scholastic  divinity  of  the  schools. 
The  princes  applauded  a  reformation  which  con- 
duced to  their  gain.  Besides,  Luther,  while  exci- 
ting the  passions  of  the  people,  forbade  the  use  of 
any  other  weapon  than  that  of  words.  "  It  was  the 
word,"  said  he,  "  which,  while  I  slept  tranquilly 
and  drank  my  beer  with  my  dear  Melancthon,  has 
shaken  popery  more  than  prince  or  emperor  ever 
did." 

Albert  of  Brandenbourgj  1525. — But  in  vain  did 
he  flatter  himself  that  he  could  restrain  passions, 
once  excited,  within  the  boundaries  of  an  abstract 
discussion  ;  men  were  not  slow  in  deducing  from 
his  principles  more  rigorous  consequences  than  he 
wished.  The  princes  had  taken  possession  of 
ecclesiastical  property ;  Albert  of  Brandenbourg, 
Grand-master  of  the  Teutonic  Order,  secularized 
one  state  entirely ;  he  espoused  the  daughter  of 
the  new  King  of  Denmark,  and  declared  himself 
the  hereditary  Duke  of  Prussia,  under  the  Lord- 
paramount  of  Poland.  This  was  a  terrible  prece- 
dent in  an  empire  full  of  ecclesiastical  sovereigns, 


190  SUMMARY    OF 

who  might  be  tempted  to  essay  a  similar  usurpa- 
tion (1525). 

Effect  of  the  Reformation  upon  the  people,  1524 — 
Anabaptists. — Yet  this  was  not  the  greatest  dan- 
ger. The  lower  class  of  people  and  the  peasants, 
who,  for  a  long  time,  had  been  stupified  under  the 
-  weight  of  feudal  oppression,  heard  the  learned  and 
the  princes  speak  of  liberty  and  of  enfranchise- 
ment, and  they  applied  to  themselves  sentiments 
which  were  not  uttered  for  them.  The  demand 
of  the  poor  peasants  of  Swabia  will  ever  remain,  in 
its  rustic  simplicity,  a  monument  of  courageous 
moderation.*  By  degrees,  the  constant  hatred  of 
the  poor  against  the  rich  was  revived,  blind  and 
furious,  as  in  the  Jacquerie,  but  already  assuming 
a  systematic  form,  as  in  the  time  of  the  Levellers. 
It  was  complicated  with  all  the  first  principles  of 
religious  democracy  which  had  been  suppressed  in 
the  Middle  Ages.  Lollards,  Beghards,  a  crowd  of 
prophetic  visionaries,  were  roused.  The  rallying- 
word  was  the  necessity  of  a  second  baptism  ;  the 
aim,  a  terrible  war  against  established  order,  and 
every  kind  of  order ;  a  war  against  property,  it 
was  robbery  for  the  benefit  of  the  poor ;  a  war 
against  science,  it  destroyed  the  equality  of  na- 
ture, and  tempted  God,  who  had  revealed  all  to  his 

*  Die  12  Artikel  der  Bauernschaft.  See,  at  the  end  of  Sartorius, 
Bauernkrieg,  and  in  the  German  works  of  Luther,  Wittemberg,  1569, 
Tol.  ii.,  p.  64. 


MODERN    HISTORY.  191 

saints ;  books  and  paintings  were  inventions  of 
the  devil.  The  fiery  Carlostadt  had  already  given 
the  example,  by  rushing  from  church  to  church, 
breaking  the  images  and  destroying  the  altars.  At 
Wittemberg  the  students  burned  their  books  before 
the  eyes  of  Luther.  The  peasants  of  Thuringia, 
imitating  those  of  Swabia,  followed  the  enthusiast 
Muncer,  overthrew  Muhlhausen,  called  the  work- 
men of  the  mines  of  Mansfeld  to  arms,  and  en- 
deavoured to  join  themselves  to  their  brethren  of 
Franconia  (1524).  On  the  Rhine,  in  Alsace  and 
in  Lorraine,  in  l  Tyrol,  Carinthia,  and  Styria,  the 
people  everywhere  took  arms.  The  magistrates 
of  every  place  were  deposed  ;  the  lands  of  the  no- 
bility were  seized,  and  the  people  forced  the  nobles 
to  exchange  their  titles  and  their  clothes  for  com- 
mon names  and  apparel  like  their  own.  All  the 
Catholic  and  Protestant  princes  armed  themselves 
against  them ;  the  heavy  cavalry  of  the  nobles 
crushed  them  in  a  moment,  and  they  were  treated 
like  wild  beasts.  . 

§  II.    FIRST    STRUGGLE    AGAINST    THE    REFORMA-      /  \f 
TION.  / 

The  secularization  of  Prussia,  and  especially  the 
revolt  of  the  Anabaptists,  gave  to  the  Reformation 
a  most  threatening  political  character.  The  two 
opinions  became  two  parties  (Catholic  at  Ratis- 
bon,  1524,  and  at  Dessau;  Protestant  at  Torgau, 


192  SUMMARY    OF 

1526).  The  emperor  watched  for  the  proper  mo- 
ment to  overthrow  one  by  the  other,  and,  at  the 
same  time,  to  subject  both  Catholics  and  Protest- 
ants. He  believed  that  the  moment  had  arrived 
when  the  victory  of  Pavia  made  his  rival  a  cap- 
tive. But  in  the  year  following  a  universal  league 
in  the  West  was  formed  against  him.  The  pope 
and  all  Italy,  Henry  VIII.,  his  ally,  declared  war 
against  him.  At  the  same  time,  the  election  of 
Ferdinand  to  the  thrones  of  Bohemia  and  Hungary 
drew  the  house  of  Austria  into  the  civil  wars  of 
that  kingdom,  arid  (if  we  may  thus  speak)  un- 
masked Germany,  and  placed  her  face  to  face  with 
Solyman. 

Selim — Solyman,  1521 — Siege  of  Vienna,  1529. 
— The  progress  of  the  Ottoman  barbarism,  which 
daily  approached  nearer,  complicated  the  affairs  of 
Europe  in  a  most  alarming  manner.  The  Sultan 
Selim,  that  rapid  conqueror,  whose  ferocity  made 
the  Turks  themselves  tremble,  had  just  doubled  the 
extent  of  the  dominion  of  the  Osmanlis.  This 
tiger,  by  three  bounds,  had  seized  Egypt,  Syria, 
and  Arabia.  The  brilliant  cavalry  of  the  Mame- 
lukes had  perished  at  the  foot  of  his  throne,  in  the 
great  massacre  at  Cairo.*  He  had  sworn  to  break 
the  red  heads ^  in  order  afterward  to  turn  the  strength 

*  "  Hi !  c'est  Sultan  Selim !   .   .   ."    Allusion  of  an  Arab  poet  to  thi* 
massacre  in  Kautimir. 
t  The  Persians  are  so  called  by  the  Turks. 


MODERN    HISTORY.  193 

of  the  Mohammedan  nations  against  the  Christians. 
A  cancer,  of  which  he  died,  absolved  him  from 
keeping  this  oath.  In  the  year  926  of  the  Hegira 
(1521),  Sultan  Selim  passed  to  the  Eternal  King- 
dom, leaving  the  empire  of  the  world  to  Solyman* 
Solyman  the  Magnificent  girded  on  the  sabre  at 
Stamboul  the  same  year  that  Charles  V.  receiv- 
ed the  imperial  crown  at  Aix-la-Chapelle.  He 
commenced  his  reign  by  the  conquest  of  Bel- 
grade and  Rhodes,  the  two  keys  of  Mohammed 
II.  (1521-2).  The  conquest  of  Rhodes  secured 
to  the  Turks  the  empire  of  the  sea,  in  the  eastern 
part  of  the  Mediterranean.  Belgrade  opened  Hun- 
gary to  them.  When  they  invaded  this  kingdom 
in  1526,  the  young  king,  Louis,  could  assemble 
only  25,000  men  against  150,000.  The  Hunga- 
rians, who,  according  to  the  ancient  custom,  took 
ofT  the  spurs  from  him  who  bore  the  standard  of 
the  Virgin,  were  nevertheless  defeated  at  Mo- 
haez.  Louis  and  his  general,  Paul  Tomorri,  bishop 
of  Colocza,  were  killed  in  the  defeat,  and  a  great 
many  other  bishops,  who  bore  arms  during  the  con- 
stant perils  of  Hungary,  lost  their  lives.  Two 
kings  were  elected  at  the  same  time,  Ferdinand  of 
Austria  and  John  Zapoly,  w^^Se  of  Transylva- 
nia. Zapoly,  obtaining  no  assistance  from  Poland, 
applied  to  the  Turks  themselves.  The  ambassador 

*  Epitaph  of  Selim. 

R 


194  SUMMARY   OP 

of  Ferdinand,  the  gigantic  Hobordanse,  who  was 
'  celebrated  for  having  vanquished,  in  single  com- 
bat, one  of  the  most  valiant  pachas,  had  dared  to 
brave  the  sultan  ;  and  Solyman  had  sworn  that,  if 
he  did  not  find  Ferdinand  at  Buda,  he  would  go  to 
Vienna  to  seek  him.     In  the  month  of  September, 
1529,  the  dark  circle  of  an  innumerable  army  en- 
closed the  capital  of  Austria.     Happily,  a  crowd 
of  valiant    men,    Germans    and    Spaniards,  were 
found  there.     Among  them  were  Don  Pedro  de 
Navarre,  and  the  Count  of  Salm,  who,  if  we  be- 
lieve the  Germans,  had  taken  Francis  I.  at  Pavia. 
At  the  end  of  twenty  days,  and  of  twenty  assaults, 
Solyman  pronounced  an  anathema  against  the  sul- 
tan who  should  again  attack  that  fatal  city.      He 
departed  in  the  night,  destroying  all  bridges  behind 
him,  strangling  his  prisoners,  and  on  the  fifth  day 
he  had  returned  to  Buda.  He  consoled  his  wounded 
pride  by  crowning  Zapoly,  that  unfortunate  prince, 
who,  at  the  same  time,  beheld  from  the  windows 
of  the  citadel  of  Pesth  10,000  Hungarian  prison- 
ers, whom  the  Tartars  of  Solyman  had  surprised 
in  celebrating  the  feast  of  Christmas,  and  whom 
they  drove  before  them  like  flocks. 

What  was  Germany  doing  while  the  Turks  were 
breaking  through  all  the  ancient  barriers,  and  while 
Solyman  was  dispersing  his  Tartars  beyond  Vi- 
enna 1  She  was  disputing  about  tran substantiation 


MODERN    HISTORY.  195 

and  about  free-will.  Her  most  illustrious  warriors 
were  seated  in  the  diets,  and  were  interrogating 
doctors.  Such  was  the  intrepid  phlegm  of  that 
great  nation — such  its  confidence  in  its  own  strength 
and  numbers. 

Confession  of  Augsburg,  1530 — League  of  Smal- 
kalde,  1530. — The  war  with  the  Turks  and  with 
the  French,  the  taking  of  Rome,  and  the  defence 
of  Vienna,  had  so  entirely  occupied  Charles  V. 
and  his  brother,  that  the  Protestants  obtained  toler- 
ation until  the  next  council.  But  after  the  peace 
of  Cambray,  Charles  V.,  seeing  France  exhausted, 
Italy  in  subjection,  and  Solyman  repulsed,  under- 
took to  try  the  great  cause  of  the  Reformation. 
The  two  parties  appeared  at  Augsburg.  The  dis- 
ciples of  Luther,  who  were  designated  by  the 
general  name  of  Protestants,  since  they  had  pro- 
tested against  the  prohibition  of  innovation  (Spire, 
1529),  wished  to  be  distinguished  from  all  the 
other  enemies  of  Rome,  whose  excesses  might 
bring  reproach  on  their  cause  ;  from  the  Zwinglian 
Republicans  of  Switzerland,  who  were  odious  to 
the  princes  and  the  nobility ;  and,  above  all,  from 
the  Anabaptists,  who  were  proscribed  as  the  ene- 
mies of  order  and  of  society.  Their  confession, 
softened  by  the  learned  and  peaceable  Melancthon, 
who,  with  tears,  addressed  the  two  parties,  was 
repulsed  as  heretical.  They  were  commanded 


196  SUMMARY    OF 

to  renounce  their  errors  upon  pain  of  being  put 
under  the  ban  of  the  Empire  (Augsburg,  1530). 
Charles  V.  seemed  even  ready  to  employ  violence, 
and  for  a  moment  the  gates  of  Augsburg  were 
closed.  The  diet  was  scarcely  dissolved  when 
the  Protestant  princes  reassembled  at  Smalkalde, 
and  there  concluded  a  defensive  league,  by  which 
they  were  to  form  one  body  (December  31,  1530), 
They  protested  against  Ferdinand's  assumption  of 
the  title  of  King  of  the  Romans.  The  tSohtingenTs" 
were  settled ;  they  applied  to  the  Kings  of  France, 
of  England,  and  of  Denmark,  to  aid  them,  and 
they  held  themselves  ready  for  a  combat. 

Germany  reunited  by  Solyman.  —  The  Turkg 
seem  again  to  be  charged  with  the  reconciliation  ot 
Germany.  The  emperor  heard  that  Solyman  had 
just  entered  Hungary  at  the  head  of  300,000  men, 
while  the  pirate  Khair  Eddyn  Barbarossa,  who  was 
become  Captain  Pacha,  had  joined  the  kingdom  of 
Tunis  to  Algiers,  and  was  the  terror  of  all  the 
Mediterranean.  Charles  V.  hastened  to  offer  to 
the  Protestants  all  that  they  had  demanded  :  reli- 
gious toleration,  the  preservation  of  secularized 
property  until  the  next  council,  and  admission  to 
the  Imperial  Chamber. 

Defeat  of  the  Turks. — During  the  negotiation, 
Solyman  was  arrested  for  a  month  before  a  small 
and  miserable  town  by  the  Dalmatian  Juritzi.  He 


MODERN    HISTORY.  197 

endeavoured  to  gain  time  in  going  across  the  impas- 
sable roads  of  Styria,  when  the  snow  and  ice  al- 
ready covered  the  mountains,  but  the  formidable 
appearance  of  the  army  of  Charles  V.  decided  his 
retreat.  Germany,  reunited  by  the  promises  of 
the  emperor,  had  made  the  greatest  efforts.  An 
army,  composed  of  Italian,  Flemish,  Burgundian, 
Bohemian,  and  Hungarian  troops,  joined  them- 
selves  to  the  imperial  army,  and  brought  a  force  of 
90,000  foot-soldiers  and  30,000  horsemen,  of  whom 
a  great,  number  were  covered  with  iron.*  Never, 
since  the  time  of  Godfrey  d'Bouillon,  had  there 
been  an  army  more  European.  The  light  cavalry 
of  the  Turks  was  soon  surrounded  and  cut  in  pieces. 
The  sultan  only  regained  courage  by  going  out 
from  those  narrow  passages  through  which  the 
Murr  and  Drave  flow,  and  entering  the  plain  of 
Waradin. 

Anabaptists  of  Munster  —  John  of  Leyden. — 
Francis  I.  and  Solyman  now  relieved  each  other  in 
occupying  Charles  V.  The  sultan,  after  invading 
Persia,  had  gone  to  be  crowned  at  Bagdad.  The 
King  of  France  attacked  the  emperor  by  making 
an  assault  upon  his  ally,  Savoy.  The  decisive 
rupture  between  the  Catholics  and  Protestants  of 
Germany  was  delayed  by  this  new  war  for  twelve 
years,  but  the  interval  was  not  a  period  of  peace. 

*  P.  Zove,  an  eyewitness. 

R2 


198  SUMMARY    OF 

First,  the  Anabaptists  broke  out  anew  in  Minister, 
under  a  more  frightful  form,  and  from  the  same  an- 
archical phrensy.  proceeded  a  strange  government, 
a  monstrous  union  of  democracy  and  tyranny. 
The  Anabaptists  of  Munster  followed  exclusively 
the  Old  Testament ;  they  believed  that,  as  Jesus 
Christ  was  of  the  race  of  David,  his  kingdom  was 
to  be  of  Jewish  form.  They  acknowledged  two 
prophets  of  God,  David,  and  John  of  Leyden  their 
chief,  and  two  prophets  of  the  devil — the  pope 
and  Luther.  John  of  Leyden  was  a  journeyman 
tailor,  a  daring  and  ferocious  man,  whom  they  had 
made  their  king,  and  who  was  to  spread  the  king- 
dom of  Jesus  Christ  throughout  the  world.  The 
princes  were  beforehand  with  him. 

Council  of  Trent,  1545. — The  Catholics  and  the 
Protestants,  who,  during  a  short  period,  had  form- 
ed one  common  cause  against  the  Anabaptists, 
were  afterward  only  more  at  enmity.  They  con- 
stantly spoke  of  a  General  Council ;  nobody  de- 
sired it.  The  pope  dreaded  it  ;  the  Protestants 
challenged  it  in  advance.  The  council  (reunited 
at  Trent,  1545)  might  bind  the  unity  of  the  Catho- 
lic hierarchy  more  closely,  but  it  could  not  restore 
the  unity  of  the  Church.  The  weapons  of  war 
alone  could  decide  it.  The  Protestants  had  already 
driven  the  Austrians  from  Wurtemberg  ;  they  had 
dispossessed  Henry  of  Brunswick,  who  took  ad- 


MODERN    HISTORY.  199 

vantage  of  the  judgments  of  the  Imperial  Chamber 
for  his  own  profit.  They  incited  the  Archbishop 
of  Cologne  to  imitate  the  example  of  Albert  of 
Brandenburg,  who  had  given  them  the  majority  in 
the  Electoral  Council. 

Battle  ofMuhlberg,  1547. — When  the  war  with 
France  was  terminated,  Charles  V.  and  his  brother 
made  a  treaty  with  the  Turks,  and  united  them- 
selves closely  to  the  pope,  in  order  to  overthrow  at 
the  same  time  the  religious  and  political  liberties 
of  Germany.  The  Lutherans,  warned  by  the  im- 
prudence of  Paul  III.,  who  proclaimed  the  war  as 
if  it  had  been  a  crusade,  rose,  under  the  Elector  of 
Saxony  and  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse,  to  the  num- 
ber of  80,000.  Abandoned  by  France,  England, 
and  Denmark,  who  had  excited  them  to  the  war, 
separated  from  the  Swiss  by  their  horror  of  the 
blasphemies  of  Zwingle,  they  were  still  strong 
enough  if  they  had  remained  united.  Charles  V. 
diminished  their  numbers  by  taking  from  them,  un- 
der the  canons  of  Ingolstadt,  Maurice,  the  young 
duke  of  Saxony,  who  had  made  a  secret  treaty  with 
him,  had  betrayed  the  Protestant  cause,  and  inva- 
ded the  states  of  his  father-in-law,  the  elector. 
Charles  V.  had  now  only  to  overthrow  the  isolated 
members  of  the  league.  Immediately  after  the  death 
of  Henry  VIII.  and  Francis  I.  (21st  January,  3lst 
March,  1547),  which  event  had  deprived  the  Prot- 


200  SUMMARY    OF 

estants  of  every  hope  of  succour,  he  inarched 
against  the  Elector  of  Saxony,  and  defeated  him  at 
Muhlberg,  24th  April.  The  two  brothers  abused 
the  power  which  that  victory  had  obtained  for  them. 
Charles  V.  condemned  the  elector  to  death  by  a 
court-martial  of  Spanish  officers,  over  whom  the 
Duke  of  Alba  presided,  and  deprived  him  of  the 
cession  of  his  electorate,  which  he  transferred  to 
Maurice.  He  retained  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse  a 
prisoner,  whom  he  had  deceived  by  a  cowardly 
stratagem,  and  showed  that  his  victory  was  neither 
for  the  Catholic  faith  nor  for  the  Constitution  of 
the  Empire. 

Ferdinand  imitated  his  brother.  Since  1545  he 
had  declared  himself  a  feudatory  of  Solyman  for 
the  kingdom  of  Hungary,  reserving  all  his  forces 
for  an  attack  upon  Bohemia  and  Germany.  He  re- 
established the  archbishopric  of  Prague,  which 
had  been  so  formidable  to  the  ancient  Hussites, 
and  declared  himself  hereditary  sovereign  of  Bohe- 
mia. In  1547  he  endeavoured  to  raise  an  army 
without  the  authority  of  the  States,  in  order  to  at- 
tack the  Lutherans  of  Saxony,  who  were  the  allies 
of  the  Bohemians.  That  army  was  raised,  but  it 
was  against  the  prince,  who  had  violated  his  oaths. 
The  Bohemians  leagued  themselves  together  for 
the  defence  of  their  constitution  and  of  their  lan- 
guage. The  battle  of  Muhlberg  delivered  them  to 
Ferdinand,  who  destroyed  their  privileges. 


MODERN    HISTORY.  201 

Martinuzzi.  —  Hungary  had  not  less  to  com- 
plain of.  The  fatal  war  of  Ferdinand  against 
Zapoly  had  rendered  this  kingdom  accessible  to 
the  Turks.  All  the  national  party,  all  those  who 
would  have  neither  the  Turks  nor  the  Austrians 
for  masters,  ranged  themselves  around  the  Cardi- 
nal George  Martiriuzzi  (Uthysenitsch),  who  was 
tutor  to  the  young  son  of  Zapoly.  This  extraordi- 
nary man,  who  at  twenty  years  of  age  still  gain- 
ed his  living  by  attending  to  the  fires  in  the  roy- 
al palace  of  Buda,  had  become  the  master  of  Tran- 
sylvania. The  queen-mother  calling  the  Turks  to 
her  aid,  he  treated  with  Ferdinand,  who  was  at 
least  a  Christian  ;  he  caused  the  cry  of  war  to 
be  raised  everywhere,*  assembled  in  a  few  days 
70,000  men,  and  at  the  head  of  his  heiduques  he 
conquered  the  city  of  Lippe,  which  the  Austrians 
could  not  retake  under  the  infidels.  This  success 
and  this  popularity  alarmed  the  brother  of  Charles 
V.  Martinuzzi  had  authorized  the  Transylvanians 
to  repress  the  licentiousness  of  the  German  sol- 
diers with  arms.  Ferdinand  caused  him  to  be  as- 
sassinated, but  this  crime  cost  him  Transylvania. 
The  son  of  Zapoly  was  established  there,  and  the 

*  Beeket's  History  of  Martinusius,  p.  324.  A  man  on  horseback,  com- 
pletely armed,  and  one  on  foot,  holding  a  bloody  sword,  went  through- 
out the  country  raising  the  cry  of  war,  according  to  the  ancient  custom 
of  Transylvania. 


202  SUMMARY    OF 

Austrians  only  preserved  what  they  possessed  of 
Hungary  by  paying  tribute  to  the  Ottoman  Porte. 

Charles  V. — In  the  mean  time,  Charles  V.  op- 
pressed Germany  and  threatened  Europe.  On  the 
one  side,  he  excepted  from  the  alliance  which  he 
proposed  to  the  Swiss,  Basle,  Zurich,  and  Schaff- 
hausen,  which  he  said  belonged  to  the  Empire ; 
on  the  other  side,  he  pronounced  the  sentence  of 
outlaw  against  Albert  of  Brandenburg,  who  had 
become  a  feudatory  of  the  King  of  Poland  :  he  even 
disaffected  Ferdinand,  and  separated  the  interests 
of  the  two  branches  of  the  house  of  Austria  by 
endeavouring  to  transfer  the  succession  of  the  Em- 
pire from  his  brother  to  his  son.  He  had  intro- 
duced the  Inquisition  in  the  Netherlands.  In  Ger- 
many, he  wished  to  impose  on  the  Catholics  and 
Protestants  his  Irihalt  (Interim),  a  conciliatory  ar- 
rangement, which  united  them  in  one  point,  their 
hatred  for  the  emperor.  The  Interim  has  been 
compared  to  the  Establishment  of  Henry  VIII.,  and 
not  without  reason ;  the  emperor  also  assumed  a 
privilege  of  the  pope.  When  Maurice  of  Sax- 
ony, son-in-law  of  the  landgrave,  demanded  the 
liberty  of  his  father-in-law,  which  he  had  sworn  to 
maintain,  Charles  V.  declared  to  him  that  he  ab- 
solved him  from  his  oath. 

But  his  most  unfeeling  act  of  arrogance  was 
leading  in  his  train  the  Landgrave  and  the  venera- 


MODERN    HISTORY.  203 

ble  Elector  of  Saxony,  as  if  to  triumph  in  their  per- 
sons over  German  liberty.  Germany  now,  for  the 
first  time,  saw  strangers  violate  her  territory  in  the 
name  of  the  emperor :  she  was  crossed  in  every 
sense  by  Italian  mercenaries  and  by  wild  Span- 
iards, who  laid  Catholics  and  Protestants,  friends 
and  foes,  equally  under  contribution. 

Maurice  of  Saxony — Pacification  of  Augsburg, 
1555. — To  overthrow  this  unjust  power,  which 
seemed  immovable,  the  young  Maurice  of  Saxony, 
the  principal  instrument  of  the  victory  of  Charles  V., 
alone  was  competent.  Charles  V.  had  caused  the 
Electorate  of  Saxony,  and  the  place  of  the  chief  of 
the  Protestants  of  Germany,  to  be  transferred  to 
a  more  able  prince.  Maurice  found  himself  the 
sport  of  the  emperor,  who  retained  his  father-in- 
law  a  prisoner.  A  number  of  little  books  and  sa- 
tirical prints,  which  circulated  in  Germany,*  de- 
scribed him  as  an  apostate,  a  traitor,  and  the  scourge 
of  his  country.  A  profound  dissimulation  conceal- 
ed the  projects  of  Maurice  :  first  he  must  raise 
an  army  without  alarming  the  emperor  ;  he  en- 
gages to  submit  Magdeburg  to  the  Interim,  and 
to  join  the  troops  of  the  city  to  his  own.  At  the 
same  time,  he  made  a  secret  treaty  with  the  King 
of  France.  The  emperor,  having  again  refused 
liberty  to  the  landgrave,  received  two  manifestos 

*  Id.,  i.,  xxiii. 


204  SUMMARY    OF 

at  the  same  time,  one  from  Maurice  in  the  name 
of  Germany,  which  represented  it  to  be  plunder- 
ed by  the  Spaniards,  and  outraged  in  the  official 
history  of  Louis  of  A  villa  ;*  the  other  was  from 
the  King  of  France,  Henry  II.,  who  styled  himself 
Protector  of  the  Princes  of  the  Empire,  and  who 
placed  a  cap  of  liberty  between  two  swords  at  the 
head  of  his  manifesto.t  While  the  French  invaded 
the  three  bishoprics,  Maurice  marched  rapidly  to- 
wards Innspruck  (1552).  The  aged  emperor,  sick 
and  without  troops,  departed  in  the  night,  during  a 
heavy  rain,  and  was  carried  towards  the  mountains 
of  Carinthia  ;  and  had  not  a  Mutiny  of  his  troops 
retarded  Maurice,  Charles  V.  w  ould  have  fallen  into 
the  hands  of  his  enemies.  He  v  as  obliged  to  yield. 
The  emperor  concluded  the  convention  of  Passau 
with  the  Protestants,  and  the  bad  success  of  the 
war,  which  he  continued  against  France,  changed 
this  convention  to  a  definite  peace  (Augsburg, 
1555).  The  Protestants  professed  their  religion 
freely,  retained  the  ecclesiastical  property  which 
they  possessed  before  1552,  and  were  permit- 
ted to  enter  the  Imperial  Chamber.  Such  was 
the  first  victory  of  religious  liberty  ;  the  critical 
spirit,  having  thus  obtained  a  legal  existence,  fol- 
lowed from  this  time  a  determined  course  through 
obstacles  which  were  not  able  to  retard  it.  (See, 

*  Id.,  i.,  xxir.  t  Id.  ibid. 


MODERN    HISTORY.  205 

farther  on,  the  germes  of  war  comprised  in  that 
peace.) 

Abdication  of  Charles  V. — The  emperor,  aban- 
doned by  fortune,  "  who  does  not  love  old^men^1*  »t"  \ 
resigned  the  Empire  to  his  brother,  his  kingdom  to 
his  sons,  and  retired  to  end  his  days  in  the  soli- 
tude of  the  monastery  of  St.  Just.  His  own  obse- 
quies, which  he  celebrated  while  living,  were  but  a 
too  faithful  picture  of  that  eclipsed  glory  which  he 
had  survived.! 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND    AND    THE    NORTH 
OF    EUROPE,    1521-1547. 

§  I.  ENGLAND  AND  SCOTLAND,  1527-1547. 

Divorce  of  Henry  VIII. — England  separates  herself  from  the  Roman 
Church,  March  30th,  1534  —Pilgrimage  of  Grace.— Persecution  of 
Catholics  and  Protestants,  1540.— Attempts  on  Scotland,  1542.— Sub- 
mission and  Administrative  Organization  of  Wales  and  Ireland. 

THE  Germanic  States  of  the  North,  England, 
Sweden,  and  Denmark,  followed  the  example  of 
Germany  ;  but  in  separating  themselves  from  the 
Holy  See,  the  last  three  states,  influenced  by  the 
spirit  of  aristocracy,  preserved  in  part  the  Catho- 
lic hierarchy. 

*  Saying  of  Charles  V. 

t  A  Spanish  historian  is  said  to  have  discovered  proof,  recently,  that 
these  alleged  obsequies  never  took  place, 
S 


206  SUMMARY    OF 

Henry  VIII. — The  revolution  effected  by  Henry 
VIII.  ought  not  to  be  confounded  with  the  true  Ref- 
ormation of  England.  That  revolution  only  caused 
England  to  separate  from  Rome,  and  to  confiscate 
the  power  and  property  of  the  Church  for  the  bene- 
fit of  the  kings.  Made,  without  conscience  or  con- 
viction, by  the  king  and  the  aristocracy,  it  was  only 
the  last  term  of  that  absolute  power  in  which  the 
English  had  indulged  the  crown,  for  half  a  century, 
in  hatred  of  the  anarchy  of  the  Roses.  The  propa- 
gation of  the  ancient  doctrines  of  Occam  and 
Wickliffe  rendered  the  higher  classes  indifferent 
to  religious  innovations.  This  official  reform  had 
nothing  to  do  with  that  which  operated  at  the  same 
time  among  the  lower  orders  of  the  people,  through 
the  spontaneous  enthusiasm  of  the  Lutherans,  Cal- 
vinists,  and  Anabaptists,  who  came  in  crowds  from 
Germany,  the  Netherlands,  and  Geneva.  This 
Reformation  soon  predominated  in  Scotland,  and 
finished  by  conquering  the  other  in  England. 

Anne  Boleyn — Schism,  1534. — The  cause  of 
the  aristocratic  and  royal  Reformation  of  England 
was  trifling ;  it  seemed  to  arise  from  the  epheme- 
ral passion  of  Henry  VIII.  for  Anne  Boleyn,  maid1 
of  honour  to  the  queen,  Catharine  of  Aragon,  aunt 
of  Charles  V.  At  the  expiration  of  twenty  years 
after  marriage,  he  remembered  that  the  queen  had 
for  some  months  been  the  wife  of  his  brother.  It  was 


MODERN    HISTORY.  207 

at  the  moment  when  the  victory  of  Pavia,  breaking 
the  equilibrium  of  the  West,  had  alarmed  Henry 
VIII.  at  the  success  of  the  emperor,  his  ally ;  he 
went  over  to  Francis,  and  solicited  his  divorce  from 
Clement  VII.  The  pope,  threatened  by  Charles  V., 
sought  every  means  to  gain  time  ;  and  after  having 
committed  the  judgment  to  the  legates,  he  had  the 
cause  tried  at  Rome.  The  English  were  no  longer 
pleased  at  the  prospect  of  the  divorce  ;  besides 
the  interest  which  Catharine  inspired,  they  feared 
that  a  rupture  with  Spain  would  arrest  the  com- 
merce of  the  Netherlands.  They  refused  to  resort 
to  the  markets  of  France,  by  which  they  might 
have  replaced  those  of  Flanders.  In  the  mean 
time,  some  more  daring  counsellors,  who  had 
succeeded  the  cardinal  legate,|  WoJafi&fCromwell, 
the  Minister  of  State,  and  Cranmer,  doctor  of  Ox- 
ford^Jwhom  Henry  had  made  Archbishop  of  Can- 
terbury, destroyed  his  scruples,  by  purchasing  for 
him  the  approbation  of  the  principal  universities 
of  Europe.  The  king  triumphed  at  last,  and  the 
clergy  of  the  kingdom  were  accused  for  having  ac- 
knowledged as  legate  the  disgraced  minister.  The 
deputies  of  the  clergy  only  obtained  their  pardon 
by  a  present  to  the  king  of  100,000  ij*a»»,  pd  by 
acknowledging  him  as  the  protector  and  supreme 
head  of  the  Church  of  England.  On  the  30th  of 
March,  1534,  that  declaration  having  passed  both 


208  SUMMARY   OF 

chambers  in  a  bill,  was  sanctioned  by  the  king,  and 
any  appeal  to  Rome  was  prohibited.  On  the  23d 
of  the  same  month,  Clement  VII.  pronounced  sen- 
tence against  the  divorce,  after  the  almost  unani- 
mous advice  of  his  cardinals  :  thus  England  was 
separated  from  the  Holy  See. 

Prodigality  of  the  King — Pilgrimage  of  Grace. — 
This  change,  which  seemed  to  terminate  the  rev- 
olution, was  only  the  commencement  of  it.  At 
first  the  king  declared  all  ecclesiastical  power  sus- 
pended ;  the  bishops,  at  the  expiration  of  a  month, 
must  present  a  petition  to  resume  the  exercise  of 
their  authority.  The  monasteries  werejuppressed, 
and  their  property,  equivalent  to  7,000,000  of  francs, 
was  united  to  the  crown.  But  the  king  soon  dis- 
sipated all.  It  is  said  that  he  gave  a  landed  estate 
to  one  of  his  cooks  who  presented  him  with  some 
delicate  dish.  The  valuable  furniture  of  the  con- 
vents, with  their  maps  and  their  libraries,  were 
seized  and  scattered  in  all  directions.  The  pious 
monks  were  indignant ;  the  poor  no  longer  found 
their  sustenance  at  the  gates  of  the  monasteries. 
The  nobility  and  landholders  imagined  that  if  the 
convents  ceased  to  exist,  their  property  would  not 
fall  again  to  the  crown,  but  would  return  to  the  rep- 
resentatives of  the  donors.  The  inhabitants  of 
five  counties  of  the  north  armed  themselves,  and 
marched  towards  London,  to  accomplish  what  they 


MODERN    HISTORY.  209 

called  the  Pilgrimage  of  Grace ;  the  other  party  ne- 
gotiated with  them,  and  promised  much,  but  when 
they  had  dispersed,  they  hung  them  by  hundreds. 
Bill  of  the  Six  Articles. — The  Protestants,  who 
at  that  time  abounded  in  England,  thought  that 
they  would  be  able  to  establish  themselves  there, 
aided  by  this  revolution.  Henry  VIII.  taught  them 
how  much  they  had  deceived  themselves.  Nothing 
in  the  world  would  induce  him  to  renounce  his  ti- 
tle of  Defender  of  the  Faith,  which  his  book  against 
Luther  had  procured.  He  maintained  the  ancient 
faith  by  his  bill  of  the  Six  Articles,  and  persecuted 
both  parties  with  impartial  intolerance.  In  1540, 
Protestants  and  Catholics  were  drawn  on  the  same 
hurdle  from  the  Tower  to  Smithfield  ;  the  Protest- 
ants were  burned  as  heretics,  the  Catholics  hanged 
as  traitors,  for  having  denied  the  supremacy. 

Lambert. — The  king  having  in  every  point  re- 
^    placed  the  pope,  solemnly  established  his   reli- 
'    gious   and  political  infallibility.      He  forced  the 
Parliament  to  make  a  decree  that  his  proclama- 
tion should  have  the  same  power  as  bills  passed  in 
'  both  chambers.     But,  what  was  more  terrible,  he    ; 
*jf    Jbelieved  in  his  own  infallibility,  and  regarded  as 
sacred  every  caprice  of  his  passions.     Of  six  wives 

which  he  had,  two  were  driven  away,  two  beheads 

5;    A  *'  "—  J  ^ 

;  ed  under  the  pretext  of  adultery  :  the  lastjvithjj.^ 

ficulty  escaped  the  same  fate  for  having  supported 

82 


210  SUMMARY    OP 

the  opinions  of  the  Protestants.  He  exercised  a 
cruel  and  meddling  despotism  in  his  family,  and 
treated  all  the  nation  as  if  they  were  of  his  house- 
hold. He  had  a  translation  made  of  the  Bible,  and 
prohibited  all  others  ;  those  of  good  condition  alone 
were  permitted  to  read  it,  and  any  other  individual 
was  liable  to  one  month's  imprisonment  for  every 
time  he  opened  the  Bible.  He  wrote  or  revised 
two  books  himself  for  the  religious  instruction  of 
the  people  (the  Institution  and  Erudition  of  the 
Christian).  He  disputed  in  person  against  the  in- 
novators. A  schoolmaster  named  Lambert,  prose- 
cuted for  having  denied  the  real  presence,  Jmgg 
calle&by  the  archbishop  to  the  head  of  the  Church ; 
the  king  argued  with  him,  and  after  a  five  hours' 
dispute,  asked  him  if  he  would  yield  or  die  ;  Lam- 
bert chose  death,  and  was  burned.  A  yet  stranger 
scene  was  the  sentence  of  St.  Thomas  of  Canter- 
bury, who  had  died  in  1170.  He  was  cited  to 
Westminster,  as  if  alive,  accused  of  treason,  and 
at  the  expiration  of  the  usual  delay  of  thirty  days, 
he  was  condemned  for  non-appearance.  His  relics 
were  burned,  and  his  wealth,  (that  is),  the  shrine 
and  the  offerings  which  decorated  it,  were  confis- 
cated for  the  benefit  of  the  king. 

Scotland. — Henry  VIII.  would  have  extended 
his  religious  tyranny  over  Scotland,  but  the  French 
party  which  governed  there  was  attached  to  th» 


MODERN    HISTORY.  211 

Catholic  religion,  and  all  the  nation  abhorred  the 
English  yoke.  In  speaking  of  the  King  of  Eng- 
land, Sir  George  Douglas  wrote,  "  There  is  not  a 
child  who  would  not  throw  stones  at  him ;  the 
women  would  break  their  distaffs  on  him  ;  the 
people  would  sooner  die  than  attempt-to,  fxeveat 
UMUR  ;  the  greater  part  of  the  nobility,  and  all  the 
clergy,  are  against  him." 

The  young  Queen  of  Scotland  (Mary)  remained 
under  the  care  of  James  Hamilton,  count  of  Arran, 
son  of  him  of  whom  we  have  already  spoken ;  he 
was  named  governor  by  the  Lords,  although  the 
will  of  the  deceased  king  designed  the  Cardinal 
Beaton  for  regent ;  and  Scotland  was  comprised 
in  the  treaty  concluded  between  England  and 
France  in  1546  (see  chapter  viii.).  The  King  of 
England  died  one  year  after. 

Servility  of  the  English  Parliament. — During  the 
last  year  of  his  reign,  Henry  having  expended  the 
prodigious  sums  which  he  had  drawn  from  the  sup- 
pression of  the  monasteries,  sought  new  resources 
in  the  servility  of  his  parliament.  He  had  disci- 
plined it  at  an  early  hour,  and  at  the  least  resist- 
ance he  reprimanded  the  varlets  of  the  mob.  Since 
1543,  he  demanded  an  enormous  subsidy.  He  had 
forced  out  new  sums  under  every  form — duties,  free 
gifts,  loans,  alteration  of  coin.  Finally,  the  Parlia- 
ment, sanctioning  the  bankruptcy,  left  to  him  all 


212  SUMMARY  OF 

that  he  had  borrowed  since  the  thirty-first  year  of 
his  reign.  They  maintained  that  before  the  twen- 
ty-sixth, the  receipts  of  the  Exchequer  had  sur- 
passed the  sums  of  all  the  taxes  imposed  by  his 
predecessors,  and  that  before  his  death  this  sum 
was  more  than  doubled. 

Wales  and  Ireland. — It  was  under  Henry  VIII. 
that  Wales  was  subjected  to  the  regular  forms  of 
the  English  administration,  and  that  Ireland  knew 
some  civil  order.  The  innovations  of  Henry  VIII. 
were  not  well  received  in  this  island,  neither  by 
the  English  colonists,  nor  by  the  native  population. 
The  government  of  the  country  was  commonly 
intrusted  to  the  Irish,  to  Kildare  or  Ossory  (Os- 
mond), chiefs  of  the  rival  families  of  Fitzgerald 
and  Butler.  The  young  son  of  Kildare,  believing 
his  father  to  have  been  killed  at  London,  presented 
himself  to  the  council,  and  in  his  name  declared 
war  against  Henry  VIII.,  king  of  England.  The 
wise  counsels  of  the  Archbishop  of  Armagh  could 
not  prevail  over  the  chanting  of  an  Irish  bard,  who, 
in  the  national  tongue,  excited  the  hero  to  avenge 
the  blood  of  his  father.  His  valour  could  do  nothing 
against  the  English  discipline  :  he  stipulated  for  a 
full  pardon  for  himself  and  his  friends,  and  was  be- 
headed at  London.  Thus  tranquillity  re-established 
itself.  The  Irish  chiefs  solicited  for  themselves 
the  dignity  of  the  peerage  :  O'Neal,  the  most  cele- 


MODERN    HISTORY.  213 

brated  of  them  all,  will  reappear  later  under  the 
name  of  the  Count  of  Tyrone. 

§  II.  DENMARK,  SWEDEN,  AND  NOR- 
WAY,  1513-60. 

Christian  II.  turns  the  Danish  Nobility,  Sweden,  1520,  and  the  Hansa, 
1517,  against  himself. — Gustavus  Vasa. — Insurrection  of  Dalecarlia.— 
Christian  II.  replaced  in  Sweden  by  Gustavus  Vasa,  1523  ;  in  Den- 
mark and  Norway  by  Frederic  of  Holsteiri,  1525. — Independence  of 
the  Danish  Church,  1527 ;  of  the  Swedish  Church,  1529.— Death  of 
Frederic  I. ;  Civil  War,  1533.— Christian  III.  abolishes  the  Catholic 
Worship,  1536,  and  incorporates  Norway  with  Denmark,  1537. 

WHILE  Protestant  Germany  sought  in  political 
liberty  a  guarantee  for  her  religious  independence, 
Denmark  and  Sweden  confirmed  their  revolution 
by  the  adoption  of  the  Reformation. 

Christian  II. — Christian  II.  had  equally  irritated 
the  Danish  nobility,  against  whom  he  protected 
the  peasants ;  Sweden,  which  he  inundated  with 
blood  (1520)  ;  and  the  Hanseatic  cities,  to  which 
he  had  closed  the  ports  of  Denmark  by  prohibi- 
tions (1517).  He  soon  found  himself  punished 
both  for  the  evil  and  the  good  which  he  had  done. 
Governed  by  the  German  priest  Slagheck,  who 
was  once  a  barber,  and  by  the  daughter  of  a  Dutch 
tavern-keeper,  he  followed  with  little  dexterity  the 
path  which  led  the  princes  of  the  South  of  Europe 
to  absolute  power.  He  wished  to  ruin  the  nobility 
of  Denmark  and  conquer  Sweden.  He  kept  troops 
in  pay  in  Germany,  Poland,  and  Scotland ;  he  had 


214  SUMMARY    OF 

obtained  4000  men  from  Francis  I.  One  battle  ren 
dered  him  master  of  Sweden,  which  was  already 
rent  asunder  by  the  quarrels  of  the  young  Stenoi 
Sture,  administrator,  and  the  Archbishop  of  Upsal 
Gustave  Troll.  He  had  all  those  bishops  and  sena- 
tors tried  by  an  ecclesiastical  court  who  had  voted 
for  the  deposition  of  Troll,  and  on  the  same  day 
they  were  beheaded  and  burned  at  Stockholm,  in 
the  midst  of  a  mourning  people.  In  all  the  prov- 
inces of  Sweden  through  which  Christian  passed, 
gallows  and  scaffolds  were  erected.  He  abused 
the  conquered,  declared  himself  hereditary  king, 
and  proclaimed  that  he  made  no  knights  among  the 
Swedes,  because  he  owed  Sweden  to  his  own 
sword. 

Gustavus  Vasa. — In  the  mean  time,  the  young 
Gustavus  Vasa,  the  nephew  of  the  former  king, 
Charles  Canutson,  succeeded  in  escaping  from 
the  prison  in  which  Christian  retained  him.  The 
Lubeckians,  who  saw  in  the  latter  the  brother-iii 
law  of  Charles  V.,  sovereign  of  the  Dutch,  their 
enemies,  and  who  knew  that  he  had  demanded 
their  city  of  the  emperor,  obliged  Gustavus  Vasa 
to  go  to  Sweden :  discovered  by  the  Danes,  Gus- 
tavus escaped  from  retreat  to  retreat,  and  was 
one  day  wounded  by  the  lances  of  those  who 
sought  him  in  a  load  of  straw.  They  still  show 
at  Falhun,  at  Ornay,  the  retreats  of  their  liber- 


MODERN    HISTORY.  215 

ator.  He  at  last  arrived  at  Dalecarlia,  among  that 
hardened  and  intrepid  race  of  peasants  by  whom 
the  revolutions  of  Sweden  have  always  been  com- 
menced. He  mingled  with  the  Dalecarlians  of 
Copparberg  (country  of  copper  mines),  adopted: 
their  costume,  and  offered  his  services  to  one 
among  them.  At  Christmas,  1521,  seizing  the 
opportunity  of  an  assembly  celebrating  the  feast, 
he  addressed  them  on  the  great  plain  of  Mora. 
They  remarked,  with  joy,  that  the  north  wind  had 
not  ceased  to  blow  while  he  spokd  :  two  hundred 
of  them  followed  him  ;  their  example  drew  all 
the  people  after  them;  and,  at  the  expiration  of 
a  few  months,  the  Danes  possessed  in  Sweden 
only  Abo,  Calmar,  and  Stockholm. 

Frederic  of  Holstein.  —  Christian  had  chosen 
precisely  this  critical  moment  to  attempt  a  revolu- 
tion in  Denmark,  which  was  sufficient  to  shake  the 
strongest  throne.  He  published  two  codes,  which 
armed  against  him  the  two  most  powerful  orders 
in  the  kingdom — the  clergy  and  the  nobility.  He 
suppressed  the  temporal  jurisdiction  of  the  bishops, 
prohibited  the  plundering  of  shipwrecked  effects, 
took  from  the  lords  the  right  to  sell  their  peasants^ 
and  permitted  the  ill-treated  peasant  to  quit  the 
domain  of  his  lord.  The  protection  of  the  peas- 
ants, which  had  caused  the  popularity  of  the  Stures 
in  Sweden,  ruined  the  King  of  Denmark.  The 


216  SUMMARY  OF 

nobles  and  bishops  called  his  uncle  Frederic,  duke 
of  Holstein,  to  the  throne.  Thus  Denmark  and 
Sweden  escaped  from  him  at  the  same  time. 

The  Swedish  Church. — After  having  conquered 
Sweden  from  strangers,  Gustavus  freed  it  from  the 
Swedish  bishops.  He  took  from  the  clergy  their 
titles  and  jurisdiction  ;  encouraged  the  nobles  to  re- 
cover the  ecclesiastical  lands  upon  which  they 
could  have  some  claim ;  finally,  he  took  from  the 
bishops  the  castles  and  strongholds  which  they 
had  in  their  hands,  and  by  the  suppression  of  the 
appeals  to  Rome,  the  Swedish  Church  found  her- 
self independent,  without  abandoning  the  hierarchy 
and  the  greater  part  of  the  Catholic  ceremonies 
(1529).  They  increased  the  number  of  farms  to 
13,000,  of  which  the  king  was  master.  Having 
thus  humbled  the  head  of  the  aristocracy  in  the 
episcopal  power,  he  had  easier  work  with  the  no- 
bility, and  taxed  unmolested  the  feudal  lands,  and 
declared  the  crown  to  be  hereditary  in  the  house 
of  Vasa. 

States  of  Odensee,  1527. — The  bishops  of  Den- 
Jmark,  although  they  had  contributed  to  the  rev- 
olution, were  not  happier  than  those  of  Sweden. 
It  only  benefited  the  nobles,  who  demanded  from 
Frederic  I.  a  right  over  the  life  and  death  of 
their  peasants.  The  preaching  of  the  Lutheran 
doctrine  was  ordered ;  the  States  of  Odensee 


MODERN    HISTORY.  217 

(1527)  decreed  liberty  of  conscience,  abolished 
the  celibacy  of  ecclesiastics,  and  broke  all  ties  be- 
tween the  Danish  clergy  and  the  Holy  See. 

Captivity  of  Christian. — The  most  distant  coun- 
tries of  the  North,  who  were  less  accessible  to  the 
new  opinions,  did  not  yield  to  this  religious  revo- 
lution without  resistance.  The  Dalecarlians  were 
armed  by  the  clergy  against  the  king  whom  they 
had  themselves  chosen.  The  Norwegians  and 
Islanders  only  saw  in  the  introduction  of  the  Prot- 
estant Creed  a  new  tyranny  of  the  Danes.  Chris- 
tian II.,  who  had* fled  to  the  Netherlands,  thought 
to  profit  by  this  disposition.  This  man,  who  had 
once  chased  a  fugitive  bishop  with  bulldogs,  now 
joined  his  cause  to  that  of  the  Catholic  religion. 
With  the  aid  of  several  princes  of  Germany,, 
of  Charles  V.,  and  some  Dutch  merchants,  he 
equipped  a  fleet,  landed  in  Norway,  and  penetrated 
from  thence  into  Sweden.  The  Hanseatics  armed 
themselves  against  the  Dutch,  who  led  on  Chris- 
tian. Beat,  and  obliged  to  shut  himself  up  in  Opslo, 
he  gave  himself  up  to  the  Danes,  who  promised 
him  liberty,  and  kept  him  twenty-nine  years  in  the 
dungeon  at  Scanderbourg,  with  no  companion  but 
a  dwarf. 

Lubeck  —  Christophe  of  Oldenburg.  —  At  the 
death  of  Frederic  I.  (1534),  the  bishops  made  an 
effort  to  prevent  their  impending  ruin.  They  en- 
T 


218  SUMMARY    OF 

deavoured  to  place  on  the  throne  the  youngest  son 
of  this  prince,  aged  eight  years,  who  was  not  yet 
in  favour  of  Lutheran  doctrines,  as  was  his  oldest 
(Christian  III.) ;  they  were  much  influenced  by  the 
circumstance  that  this  child  was  born  in  Denmark, 
and  had  spoken  the  language  of  the  country  from 
his  infancy,  while  his  brother  was  considered  as  a 
German.  This  attack  of  the  bishops  against  the 
nobility,  of  the  Catholic  faith  against  the  new  doc- 
trines, of  Danish  patriotism  against  foreign  influ- 
ence, encouraged  the  ambition  of  Lubeck.  This 
republic  had  gained  little  by  the  ruin  of  Christian 
II.  Frederic  had  formed  companies,  Gustavus 
favoured  the  English.  The  democratic  adminis- 
tration, which  had  replaced  at  Lubeck  the  ancient 
oligarchy,  was  animated  more  by  the  spirit  of  con- 
quest than  by  that  of  commerce.  The  new  men 
who  conducted  it,  the  burgomaster  Wullenwever, 
and  the  commandant  Meyer,  a  locksmith,  enter- 
tained the  project  to  renew  in  a  kingdom  the  dem- 
ocratic revolution  which  they  had  made  in  a  city, 
in  order  to  conquer  and  divide  Denmark.  They 
intrusted  the  command  of  the  revolutionary  war  to 
an  illustrious  adventurer,  the  Count  Christophe  of 
Oldenburg,  who  had  signalized  himself  in  the  war 
against  the  Turks ;  he  had  only  his  name  and  his 
sword,  but  he  consoled  himself  for  his  poverty,  it 
is  said,  by  reading  Homer  in  the  original.  He 


MODERN    HISTORY.  219 

entered  Denmark,  stirring  up  the  inferior  classes 
in  the  name  of  Christian  II. :  a  magical  name, 
which  always  rallied  the  Catholics  and  peasants. 
All  was  deception  in  this  wicked  war :  the  Demo- 
crats of  Lubeck  named  Christian  II.  to  the  people, 
but  thought  only  of  themselves ;  their  general 
Christophe  worked  neither  for  Christian  nor  for  Lu- 
beck, but  for  his  own  interests.  The  calamities  of 
this  war  were  such,  that  the  War  of  the  Count  has 
remained  a  proverbial  expression  in  Denmark.  The 
general  consternation  turned  all  minds  to  Christian 
III.  The  Senate  retired  to  Jutland,  which  alone 
remained  to  them,  arid  summoned  him  from  Hoi- 
stein,  to  which  he  had  withdrawn.  Gustavus  aided 
him.  The  young  king  himself  besieged  Lubeck, 
and  forced  it  to  call  back  its  troops.  The  peasants, 
beaten  everywhere,  lost  all  hope  of  liberty.  Chris- 
tian III.  entered  Copenhagen  after  a  long  siege. 
The  Senate  had  the  bishops  arrested,  deprived 
them  of  their  property,  and  substituted  for  them 
superintendents,  charged  to  preach  the  Evangelic 
Religion.  Thus  arose  the  absolute  power  of  the 
nobility  by  the  defeat  of  the  clergy  and  peasants. 
Christian  III.  acknowledged  the  throne  elective, 
and  promised  to  consult  the  grand-master  of  the 
kingdom,  the  chancellor,  and  the  marshal,  who 
were  to  receive  complaints  against  the  king.  The 
Danish  nobility  decided  that  Norway  should  be 


220  SUMMARY    OF 

only  a  province  of  the  kingdom.  Protestantism 
was  established  there.  The  powerful  archbish- 
opric of  Drontheim  became  a  simple  bishopric  ; 
the  ancient  spirit  of  resistance  ceased  to  manifest 
itself,  if  we  except  the  troubles  at  Bergen,  ex- 
cited by  the  tyranny  of  the  Hanseatic  factors,  and 
the  revolt  of  the  peasants,  who  were  forced  to 
work  in  mines  under  the  order  of  German  mi- 
ners. 

Iceland. — Poor  Iceland,  between  its  snows  and 
volcanoes,  endeavoured  also  to  repulse  the  new 
faith  which  they  wished  to  impose  on  it.  The 
Icelanders  had  the  same  repugnance  to  a  Danish 
government  as  the  Danes  had  to  German  influence. 
The  bishops  Augment  and  Arneson  resisted,  at 
the  head  of  their  people,  until  the  Danes  had  cut 
off  the  head  of  Arneson.  Arneson  was  not  es- 
teemed for  the  regularity  of  his  conduct,  but  he 
was  deplored  as  the  man  of  the  people  and  as  a 
national  poet:  it  was  Arneson  who,  about  1528, 
introduced  printing  in  this  distant  isle. 

Thus  was  the  religious  and  political  revolution 
of  Denmark  everywhere  confirmed,  notwithstand- 
ing a  new  attempt  of  Charles  V.  in  favour  of  the 
elector  palatine,  husband  of  his  niece,  daughter  of 
Christian  II.  Finally,  the  alliance  of  Christian  III. 
with  the  Protestants  of  Germany  and  Francis  I., 
decided  the  emperor  to  acknowledge  him.  He 


MODERN    HISTORY.  221 

obtained  for  his  subjects  of  the  Netherlands  the 
liberty  to  navigate  the  Baltic  Sea :  this  privilege 
was  the  last  blow  aimed  at  the  Hanseatie  League, 
and  one  from  which  it  did  not  recover. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

CALVIN  REFORMATION     IN     FRANCE,     ENGLAND, 

SCOTLAND,     THE     NETHERLANDS,     TO     ST.    BAR- 
THOLOMEW, 1555-1572.* 

Calvin  at  Geneva,  1535.— Calvinism  passes  into  France,  the  Netherlands, 
England,  and  Scotland. — Opposition  of  Philip  II. — His  Marriage  with 
Mary,  Queen  of  England,  1555. — Peace  between  the  King  of  Spain 
and  the  King  of  France. — Henry  II.,  1559. — Institution  of  the  Inqui- 
sition, 1561.  — Marriage  of  Mary  Stuart  with  Francis  II,  1560.— 
Struggle  between  England  and  Scotland,  1559-1567. — Accession  of 
Charles  IX.,  1561.  —Massacre  of  Vassi  ;  Civil  War,  1562.— Peace  of 
Amboise,  1563  ;  of  Longjumeau,  1568. — Battles  of  Jarnac  and  Mont- 
contour,  1569. — Prosecutions  in  the  Netherlands. — Council  of  Troubles, 
1567.— Revolt  of  the  Moors  of  Spain,  1571.— St.  Bartholomew,  1572. 

PHILIP  II.,  son  and  successor  of  Charles  V.,  did 
not,  like  his  father,  unite  the  Empire  with  the  crown 
of  Spain  ;  but  he  became  in  good  measure  the  sov- 
ereign of  England  by  his  marriage  with  Mary 

*  To  separate,  in  the  2d  part  of  the  sixteenth  century,  the  history  of 
Spain,  the  Netherlands,  France,  England,  and  Scotland,  would  be  con- 
demning ourselves  to  continual  repetition  ;  yet,  to  facilitate  the  instruc- 
tion, we  will  look  back  to  chapter  xii.  of  the  Chronological  Tables  (part 
i.,  p.  515-520),  which  contains  the  programme  of  these  different  his- 
tories. We  shall  find  there  many  facts  or  dates  which,  could  not  enter 
into  a  general  view  of  this  period. 

T  2 


222  SUMMARY    OF 

(1554),  daughter  of  Henry  VIII.  The  King  of 
France  had  to  encounter  in  him  the  master  of  Spain 
and  the  Netherlands,  the  ruler  of  Italy  and  England, 
and  the  possessor  of  the  mines  in  America.  He 
made  his  attack,  however,  on  the  first.  The  Gui- 
ses, a  junior  branch  of  the  house  of  Lorraine,  claim- 
ed, as  heirs  of  Rene  of  Anjou,  the  kingdom  of  both 
Sicilies  ;  they  found  means  to  conduct  an  army  to 
Italy.  The  track  seemed  to  be  beaten  ;  Brissac, 
master  of  Piedmont,  had  made  a  descent  upon 
Milan ;  the  Gascon  Montluc  defended  the  city  of 
Sienna  obstinately.  But  no  one  in  Italy  believed 
in  the  lasting  success  of  the  French ;  no  Italian 
power  declared  itself  for  Guise.  The  Duke  of 
Alba,  who  waited  for  him  in  the  Abruzzo,  exhaust- 
ed the  ardour  of  the  French.  Guise  himself  de- 
manded his  recall,  and  went  to  repair  the  defeat 
of  St.  Quentin  (1557)  by  the  taking  of  Calais. 
France,  encouraged  by  this  last  victory,  thought 
to  find  in  him  a  saviour.  The  Constable  of  Mont- 
morency,  then  prisoner  of  the  Spaniards,  negotiated 
the  peace  of  Cateau-Cambresis  (1559).  Of  all  his 
•conquests,  Henry  II.  only  retained  Calais  (for  eight 
years),  the  three  bishoprics,  and  some  places  of 
•Savoy.  This  went  to  destroy  the  hope  of  foreign 
^conquests ;  but  the  kingdom  found  itself  closed 
against  foreign  invasions  ;  this  treaty  had  secured  to 
it  the  three  gates  of  England.  Germany,  and  Italy. 


MODERN    HISTORY.  223 

The  reconciliation  of  the  kings  of  France  and 
Spain  was  but  a  league  against  the  Reformation, 
which  daily  took  a  more  alarming  character.  At 
its  first  outbreak  it  had  done  little  more  than  de- 
stroy ;  in  its  second  stage  it  endeavoured  to  lay 
the  foundation  of  a  system.  At  its  appearance  it 
had  leagued  itself  with  the  civil  power  ;  the  Lu- 
theran Reformation  had  been  in  several  respects 
the  work  of  princes,  to  whom  it  subjected  the 
Church.  The  people  waited  for  a  reformation 
which  should  inure  to  them.  It  was  given  by 
John  Calvin,  a  French  Protestant  exiled  at  .Ge- 
neva. The  first  reformation  had  conquered  Ger- 
many in  the  north,  the  second  subdued  the  Neth- 
erlands, England,  and  Scotland.  Everywhere  it 
encountered  an  obstinate  adversary  in  the  Spanish 
power,  which  it  everywhere  conquered. 

Calvin,  1535. — When  Calvin  passed  from  Ne- 
rak  to  Geneva  (1535),  he  found  this  city  liberated 
from  its  bishop  and  from  the  dukes  of  Savoy,  but 
kept  in  the  greatest  fermentation  by  the  plots  of  the 
servile  classes,  and  the  continual  indignities  offer- 
ed by  the  gentry.  Calvin  became  the  apostle  and 
legislator  of  it  (1541-64),  making  himself  judge  be- 
tween the  paganism  of  Zwingle  and  the  popery  of 
Luther.  The  Church  was  a  democracy,  and  the 
State  was  absorbed  in  it.  Calvinism,  like  the  Cath- 
olic religion,  had  a  territory  independent  of  all 


224  SUMMARY    OF 

temporal  power.  The  union  of  Berne  and  Fri- 
bourg  permitted  the  reformer  to  preach  behind  the 
lances  of  the  Swiss.  Placed  between  Italy,  Switz- 
erland, and  France,  Calvin  shook  all  the  West. 
He  had  neither  the  impetuosity,  the  simplicity,  nor 
the  facetiousness  of  Luther.  His  style  was  sad 
and  stern,  but  powerful,  concise, penetrating.  More 
consistent  in  his  writings  than  in  his  conduct,  he 
began  by  asking  toleration  from  Francis  I.,*  and 
finished  by  causing  Servitus  to  be  burned. 

Progress  of  his  Doctrines. — At  once  the  Vaudois, 
and  all  the  restless  and  ingenious  population  of  the 
south  of  France,  who  had  been  the  first  to  rebel 
against  the  yoke  of  the  Middle  Ages,  rallied 
around  the  new  doctrine.  From  Geneva  and  Na- 
varre, it  had  spread  to  the  commercial  city  of  Ro- 
chelle,  and  from  thence  to  the  then  literary  cities 
of  the  interior,  Poictiers,  Bruges,  Orleans ;  it 
penetrated  into  the  Netherlands,  and  associated 
itself  with  the  bands  of  Rederikers,  who  overran 
the  country,  preaching  against  abuses.  From 
thence,  passing  over  the  sea,  it  came  to  disturb  the 
victory  of  Henry  VIII.  over  the  pope,  and  seated 
itself  on  the  throne  of  England  with  Edward  VI. 
(1547).  From  England  it  was  carried  by  Knox 

*  Pracfatio  ad  Christianissimum  regem  qua  hie  ei  liber  pro  confessions 
fidei  offertur.  This  eloquent  morsel  opens  his  hook  of  Christian  Educa- 
tion, published  in  1536,  which  he  has  translated  himself^ 


MODERN    HISTORY.  225 

into  uncivilized  Scotland,  and  only  stopped  at  the 
entrance  of  the  mountains,  where  the  Highlanders 
preserved  the  faith  of  their  ancestors  with  their  ha- 
tred of  the  Saxon  heretics. 

Assemblies  of  Paris,  1550. — At  first  the  assem- 
blies were  secret :  the  first  which  met  in  France 
were  held  at  Paris  in  the  street  of  St.  Jacques 
(towards  1550) ;  they  soon  multiplied.  Fires  to 
burn  heretics  were  useless.  It  was  so  delight- 
ful for  the  people  to  hear  the  Word  of  God  in 
their  own  language.  Many  were  attracted  by  cu- 
riosity, others  by  compassion  ;  some  were  tempt- 
ed by  the  danger  even.  In  1550  there  was  but 
one  Reformed  church  in  France  ;  in  1561  it  had 
more  than  two  thousand.  Sometimes  they  assem- 
bled in  the  open  fields  to  the  number  of  eight  or 
ten  thousand  persons  ;  the  preacher  mounted  a  cart 
or  a  pile  of  trees  ;  the  people  placed  themselves  be- 
fore the  wind,  to  gather  the  words  with  more  ease, 
and  finally  all  united,  men,  women,  and  children,  in 
singing  psalms.  Those  who  had  arms  watched 
around.  Then  came  the  colporteurs,  who  unpack- 
ed catechisms,  small  books  and  prints  against  the 
bishops  and  the  pope.* 

*  There  was,  for  example,  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine  holding  the  young 
Francis  II.  in  a  bag,  who  endeavoured  to  force  out  his  head  to  breathe 
from  time  to  time.  In  the  Netherlands  they  sold  the  Cardinal  Gran- 
velle,  prime  minister  of  Philip,  hatching  eggs,  from  which  bishops  crept 
forth,  while  the  devil  touched  the  head  of  each,  blessed  him,  and  said, 


226  SUMMARY    OF 

They  did  not  hold  these  assemblies  a  long  time. 
Not  less  intolerant  than  their  persecutors,  they 
wished  to  exterminate  what  they  called  Idolatry. 
They  commenced  by  overthrowing  the  altars, 
burning  the  paintings,  and  demolishing  the  church- 
es. In  1561  they  called  on  the  King  of  France  to 
break  down  the  images  of  Jesus  Christ  and  the 
saints. 

Philip  IL,  1556. — Such  were  the  adversaries 
that  Philip  II.  undertook  to  combat  and  annihilate  ; 
he  everywhere  met  them  in  his  path ;  in  England, 
to  prevent  him  from  marrying  Elizabeth  (1558)  ;  in 
France,  to  balance  the  power  of  the  Guises,  his 
allies  (1561);  in  the  Netherlands,  supporting  by 
their  fanaticism  the  cause  .of  public  liberty.* 

The  cosmopolitan  character  of  Charles  V.  had 
been  succeeded  by  a  prince  all  Castilian,  who 
disdained  all  other  language,  who  abhorred  any 
creed  foreign  to  his  own,  who  wished  everywhere 
to  establish  the  regular  forms  of  Spanish  adminis- 
tration, legislation,  and  religion.  First  he  con- 
strained himself  to  marry  Mary,  queen  of  Eng- 
land (1553),  but  he  did  not  deceive  the  English. 
The  glass  of  beer  which  he  solemnly  drank  at  his 
landing,  the  sermons  of  his  confessor  on  toleration, 
gave  him  no  popularity.  They  believed  rather  in 

Behold  my  much-beloved  son.— Mem.  of  Cond6,  ii.,  656 ;  and  Schiller,  Hi$.t* 
of  the  Revolt  of  the  Netherlands,  b.  iii.,  chap.  i. 
*  Everywhere  since  1563 


MODERN    HISTORY.  227 

the  burning  piles  erected  by  his  wife.  After  the 
death  of  Mary  (1558)  he  no  longer  dissembled; 
he  introduced  Spanish  troops  into  the  Netherlands, 
maintained  there  the  Inquisition,  and  at  his  depar- 
ture, in  a  measure  declared  war  against  the  defend- 
ers of  the  liberties  of  the  country  in  the  person  of 
the  Prince  of  Orange.*  Finally,  he  united  him- 
self with  Henry  II.  against  domestic  enemies,  who 
threatened  them  both  alike,  by  espousing  his 
daughter,  Elizabeth  of  France  (peace  of  Cateau- 
Cambresis,  1559).  Mournful  circumstances  sad- 
dene4»  the  festivities  of  this  ominous  peace.  A 
tournament  was  given  near  the  Bastile,  where  the 
Protestant  Anne  Dubourg  awaited  death.  The 
king  was  wounded,  and  the  marriage  took  place 
in  the  night  at  St.  Paul's.  Philip  II.  returned  to 
his  States  never  again  to  leave  them,  and  in  mem- 
ory of  his  victory  of  St.  Quentin  he  built  the  mon- 
astery of  the  Escurial,  and  consecrated  with  it  fifty 
millions  of  piasters.  This  gloomy  edifice,  all  built 
of  granite,  is  visible  at  the  distance  of  seven 
leagues.  No  sculpture  embellishes  the  walls  ;  the 
boldness  of  the  arches  constitutes  the  sole  beauty. 
The  buildings  are  arranged  in  the  form  of  a  grid- 
iron, t 

*  The  king,  on  embarking,  said  to  the  Prince  of  Orange,  who  cast  the 
blame  on  the  representatives,  No,  nolos  etados,  ma  vos,  vos,  vos. — Fan 
der  Vyncht. 

t  Instrument  of  martyrdom  of  St.  Laurence  ;  the  battle  of  St.  Quentiu 
was  gained  by  the  Spaniards  on  the  day  of  his  feast. 


228  SUMMARY    OF 

Jesuits. — At  this  period  the  minds  of  the  people 
in  Spain  had  reached  the  last  degree  of  religious 
exaltation.  The  rapid  progress  of  the  heretics  in 
all  Europe,  the  victory  which  they  had  attained  over 
Charles  V.  by  the  treaty  of  Augsburg,  their  vio- 
lence against  the  images,  their  outrages  on  the 
holy  host,  which  the  priests  related  to  the  frighten- 
ed Spaniards,  had  produced  a  redoubled  fervour. 
Ignatius  of  Loyola,  who  was  entirely  devoted  to 
the  Holy  See,  founded  the  order  of  the  Jesuits 
(1434-40).  St.  Theresa  de  Jesus  reformed  the 
Carmelites,  and  inflamed  all  their  souls  with  the 
fire  of  a  mystic  love.  The  monks  of  the  same  name, 
of  the  mendicant  order,  soon  followed  in  this  ref- 
ormation. The  constitution  of  the  Inquisition  was 
fixed  in  1561.  If  we  except  the  Moors,  Spain 
was  united  as  a  single  man  in  violent  horror 
against  the  infidels  and  the  heretics.  Closely  uni- 
ted to  Portugal,  which  the  Jesuits  governed,  dis- 
posing of  the  ancient  bands  of  Charles  V.,  and  of 
the  treasures  of  the  two  worlds,  she  undertook  to 
subject  Europe  to  her  empire  and  to  her  faith. 

Elizabeth,  1559.  —  The  dispersed  Protestants 
rallied  themselves  in  the  name  of  Queen  Elizabeth, 
who  offered  them  an  asylum  and  protection.  Ev- 
erywhere she  encouraged  their  resistance  against 
Philip  II.  and  the  Catholics.  Absolute  in  their 
kingdoms,  these  two  monarchs  conducted  with  the 


MODERN    HISTORY.  229 

violence  of  two  party  chiefs.  The  scrupulous  de- 
votion of  Philip,  and  the  chivalrous  spirit  of  the 
court  of  Elizabeth,  blended  themselves  with  a 
system  of  intrigue  and  corruption ;  but  victory 
awaited  Elizabeth  ;  the  times  were  on  her  side. 
She  ennobled  despotism  by  the  enthusiasm  with 
which  she  inspired  the  nation.  Those  evea  whom 
she  persecuted  were  for  her,  in  spite  of  everything. 
A  Puritan,  condemned  to  lose  one  hand,  had  it 
hardly  cut  off,  when  he  took  his  hat  with  the  other, 
and  waving  it  in  the  air,  cried  Long  live  the  queen  ! 

It  was  thirty  years  before  the  two  adversaries 
met  in  battle.  The  combat  had  taken  place  pre- 
viously in  Scotland,  France,  and  the  Low  Coun- 
tries. 

Mary  Stuart. — It  did  not  continue  long  in  Scot- 
land (1559-1567).  The  rival  of  Elizabeth,  the 
fascinating  Mary  Stuart  (widow  of  Francis  II.  at 
18  years),  saw  herself  a  stranger  in  the  midst  of 
her  subjects,  who  detested  in  her  the  Guises,  her 
uncles,  who  were  chiefs  of  the  Catholic  party  in 
France.  Her  nobles,  sustained  by  England,  join- 
ed with  Darnley,  her  husband,  and  stabbed  an 
Italian  musician,  Rizzio,  her  favourite,  before  her 
eyes.  Soon  after,  the  house  which  Darnley  in- 
habited, near  Holyrood,  blew  up  ;  he  was  buried 
under  its  ruins,  and  Mary,  carried  away  by  the 
principal  author  of  the  crime,  was  married  to  him 

u 


230  SUMMARY  OF 

of  choice  or  through  constraint.  The  queen  and 
the  party  of  the  lords  accused  each  other.  But  the 
queen  was  weakest.  She  found  no  refuge  but  in 
the  states  of  her  deadly  enemy,  who  retained  her 
a  prisoner,  gave  the  guardianship  of  her  young  son 
to  whom  she  pleased,  reigned  in  her  name  in 
Scotland,  and  was  enabled  in  future  to  wrestle 
with  less  disadvantage  against  Philip  II. 

William  of  Orange. — But  it  was  principally  in 
France  and  the  Netherlands  that  Elizabeth  and 
Philip  carried  on  a  secret  war.  The  soul  of  the 
Protestant  party  in  these  two  countries  was  the 
Prince  of  Orange,  William  the  Taciturn,  and  his 
father-in-law,  the  Admiral  Coligni,  unfortunate 
generals,  but  profound  politicians,  of  melancholy 
temperament,  and  in  spite  of  the  blood  of  Nassau 
and  of  Montmorency,  animated  by  the  democratic 
instinct  of  Calvinism.  A  colonel  of  the  infantry 
under  Henry  II. ,  Coligni  collected  around  him  all 
the  lesser  nobility  ;  he  gave  to  La  Rochelle  a  Re- 
publican organization,  whib  the  Prince  of  Orange 
encouraged  the  confederation  of  the  Gueux,  and 
laid  the  foundation  of  a  more  durable  republic. 

Francis  of  Guise.  —  The  great  Guise  and  his 
brother,  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine,*  governed  France 


*  See,  in  the  Memoirs  of  Caspar  de  Tavennes,  the  comparison  of  the 
advantages  which  the  rival  houses  of  Guise  and  Montmorency  had  ob- 
tained from  Henry  II.,  part  xxiii.,  page  410. 


MODERN    HISTORY.  231 

under  Francis  II.,  husband  of  their  niece,  Mary 
Stuart  (1560).  Guise  had  been  the  idol  of  the 
people  since  he  took  Calais  in  eight  days  from  the 
English.  But  he  had  found  France  ruined.  He 
found  it  necessary  to  recover  the  alienated  do- 
mains, and  to  suppress  the  levy  of  50,000  men, 
that  is  to  say,  to  disarm  government  at  the  moment 
in  which  the  revolution  burst  forth.  Thousands  of 
petitioners  besieged  Fontainebleau  ;  and  the  Cardi- 
nal of  Lorraine,  not  knowing  what  to  answer  them, 
had  a  notice  posted,  that  every  one  who  did  not 
leave  the  city  within  24  hours  should  be  hung. 

Conspiracy  of  Amboise,  1560.  —  The  Bourbons 
(Antoine,  king  of  Navarre,  and  Louis,  prince  of 
Conde),  who  saw  with  regret  the  public  affairs  in 
the  hands  of  the  two  youngest  of  the  house  of 
Lorraine,  profited  by  the  general  discontent.  They 
associated  themselves  with  the  Calvinists,  witht 
Coligni,  with  the  English,  who  came  at  night  to 
negotiate  with  them  at  St.  Denis.  The  Protest- 
ants marched  in  arms  towards  Amboise  to  seize 
the  person  of  the  king ;  but  they  were  betrayed 
to  the  Guises,  and  slain  on  their  way.  Some  of 
the  Protestants,  who  had  been  kept  to  be  executed 
before  the  king  and  all  the  court,  bathed  their 
hands  in  the  blood  of  their  beheaded  brethren,  and 
raised  them  to  Heaven  against  those  who  had  be- 
trayed them.  This  horrible  scene  seemed  to  bring 


232  SUMMARY    OF 

misfortune  on  all  who  had  witnessed  it  —  Francis 
II.,  Mary  Stuart,  the  great  Guise,  and  the  Chan- 
cellor Olivier,  Protestant  at  heart,  who  had  con- 
demned them,  and  who  died  from  remorse  on  that 
account. 

Charles  IX. — Hopital. — At  the  accession  of  the 
young  Charles  (the  ninth  of  his  name,  1560),  the 
po>ver  belonged  to  his  mother,  Catharine  of  Medi- 
cis,  if  she  had  known  how  to  keep  it ;  she  caused 
it  to  be  taken  from  the  Guises,  the  chiefs  of  the 
Catholics,  and  the  government  stood  isolated  be- 
tween the  two  parties.  She  was  not  an  Italian 
with  the  ancient  politics  of  the  Borgia,  who  could 
hold  the  balance  between  energetic  men  who  de- 
spised her  :  she  was  not  worthy  of  this  period  of 
deep  convictions,  and  the  period  itself  was  not 
worthy  of  the  Chancellor  Hopital,*  a  noble  pic- 
ture of  calm  wisdom,  which  is  powerless  in  the 
midst  of  passion.  Guise  seized  again,  as  chief 
of  the  party,  the  power  which  he  had  lost.  The 
court  furnished  him  with  a  pretext  by  softening 
the  edicts  against  the  Reformers,  by  those  of  St. 
Germain  and  of  January,  and  by  admitting  their 
doctors  to  a  solemn  discussion  in  the  conference 
of  Poissi.  At  the  same  time  that  the  Calvinists 
took  up  arms  at  Nismes,  the  Duke  of  Guise  pass- 

*  The  Chancellor  Hdpital,  who  had  the  lilies  in  his  \iea,rt.—L'Etotte, 
adv.,  57. 


MODERN    HISTORY.  233 

ing  through  Vassi  to  Champagne,  his  men  quar- 
relled with  some  Huguenots  who  were  listening  to 
preaching,  and  killed  them  (1562).  The  civil  war 
commenced.  C&sar,  said  the  Prince  of  Conde, 
has  passed  the  Rubicon. 

First  Civil  War,  1562-1563. — At  the  approach 
of  so  terrible  a  conflict,  both  parties  scrupled  not 
to  apply  for  the  aid  of  foreigners.  The  old  politi- 
cal barriers  which  separated  the  people  fell  before 
religious  interest.  The  Protestants  demanded  aid 
from  their  brethren  in  Germany  ;  they  gave  up 
Havre  to  the  English,  while  the  Guises  entered 
upon  a  vast  plan,  formed,  they  say,  by  the  King  of 
Spain,  to  crush  Geneva  and  Navarre,  the  two  seats 
of  heresy  ;  to  exterminate  the  Calvinists  of  France  ; 
and,  finally,  to  vanquish  the  Lutherans  in  the  Em- 
pire. The  parties  assembled  on  all  sides  with  a 
wild  enthusiasm.  In  these  first  armies  there  was 
no  gambling,  no  profane  language,  nor  dissipation  ; 
prayers  were  held  in  common  morning  and  evening. 
But  under  this  exterior  of  sanctity  their  hearts 
were  not  the  less  cruel.  Montluc,  the  governor  of 
Guienne,  went  through  his  province  with  hangmen. 
One  could  know,  said  he  himself,  where  he  had 
passed,  for  on  the  trees  by  the  roadside  they  would 
find  the  signs.  In  Dauphiny  there  was  a  Protest- 
ant, the  Baron  of  Adrets,  who  precipitated  his  pris- 
oners from  the  top  of  a  tower  on  the  point  of  pikes, 
U  2 


234:  SUMMARY   OF 

Death  of  Francis  of  Guise,  1563. — Guise  was 
first  conqueror  at  Dreux  ;  he  took  Conde,  the  gen- 
eral of  the  Protestants,  prisoner,  divided  his  bed 
with  him,  and  slept  profoundly  at  the  side  of  his 
mortal  enemy.  Orleans,  the  principal  place  of  the 
Protestants,  was  only  saved  by  the  assassination  of 
the  Duke  of  Guise,  whom  a  Protestant  wounded 
from  behind  by  the  discharge  of  a  pistol  (1563). 
Whatever  his  ambition  and  connexions  with  Philip 
II.  may  have  been,  posterity  will  pardon  a  man 
who  said  to  his  assassin,  "  Now  I  will  show  you 
hbw  much  sweeter  that  religion  which  I  follow  is 
than  the  one  you  profess :  yours  has  counselled 
you  to  kill  without  hearing  me,  having  received 
no  ofTence  from  me  ;  and  mine  commands  that  I 
forgive  you,  fully  convinced,  as  I  am,  that  you  wish- 
ed to  kill  me  without  cause." 

Treaty  of  Amboise,  1563 — of  Longjumeau,  1568 
— of  St.  Germain,  1570. — The  queen-mother,  re- 
lieved of  a  master,  made  a  treaty  with  the  Protest- 
ants (at  Amboise,  1563),  and  found  herself  obliged, 
by  the  indignation  of  the  Catholics,  to  violate  all 
the  articles  of  the  treaty  by  degrees.  Conde  and 
Coligni  tried  in  vain  to  seize  the  young  king ;  de- 
feated at  St.  Denis,  but  always  formidable,  they  im- 
posed on  the  court  the  peace  of  Longjumeau  (1568), 
surnamed  "  Boiteuse  et  malassise,"  which  confirm- 
ed that  of  Amboise.  An  attempt  of  the  court  to 


MODERN    HISTORY.  235 

seize  the  two  chiefs  led  to  a  third  war.  All  moder- 
ation left  the  councils  of  the  king  with  the  Chan- 
cellor Hopital.  The  Protestants  took  La  Rochelle, 
instead  of  Orleans,  for  a  place  of  arms  ;  they  as- 
sessed themselves,  in  order  to  pay  their  German 
auxiliaries,  whom  the  Duke  of  Deux-Ponts  and  the 
Prince  of  Orange  led  with  them  through  all  France. 
Notwithstanding  their  defeat  at  Zarnac  and  Mon- 
contour  (1569),  notwithstanding  the  death  of  Conde 
and  the  wounds  of  Coligni,  the  court  was  obliged 
to  grant  them  a  third  peace  (St.  Germain,  1570). 
Their  worship  was  to  be  free  in  two  cities  of  a 
province  ;  they  left  to  them  for  places  of  security, 
La  Rochelle,  Montauban,  Cognac,  and  La  Charite\ 
The  young  King  of  Navarre  was  to  marry  the  sis- 
ter of  Charles  IX.  (Margaret  of  Valois).  They 
even  led  Coligni  to  hope  that  he  should  command 
the  aid,  which,  they  said,  the  king  wished  to  send 
to  the  Protestants  of  the  Netherlands.  The  Cath- 
olics shuddered  at  a  treaty  so  humiliating  after  four 
victories  ;  the  Protestants  themselves,  hardly  real- 
izing it,  only  acquiesced  on  account  of  their  weak- 
ness,* and  the  wisest  among  them  expected  from 
this  hostile  peace  some  dreadful  calamity. 

Persecution  in  Flanders. — The  situation  of  the 


*  The  admiral  says  that  he  would  wish  rather  to  die  than  fall  back 
into  these  confusions,  and  see  so  many  evils  happen  before  his  eyeg. 
—Lanouet  vol.  ixxiv.,  p.  290. 


236  SUMMARY    OF 

Netherlands  was  not  less  frightful.  Philip  II.  com- 
prehended neither  the  liberty  or  spirit  of  the  North, 
nor  the  interests  of  commerce ;  all  his  subjects,  Bel- 
gians and  Dutch,  turned  against  him  ;  also  the  Cal- 
vinists,  persecuted  by  the  Inquisition ;  and  the  no- 
bles, from  henceforth  without  hope  of  re-establish- 
ing their  fortunes,  ruined  in  the  service  of  Charles 
V.  ;  the  monks,  who  feared  the  reform  ordered  by 
the  Council  of  Trent,  as  well  as  the  establishment 
of  new  bishoprics,  to  be  endowed  at  their  expense  ; 
finally,  the  good  citizens,  who  beheld  the  introduc- 
tion of  Spanish  troops,  and  the  overthrow  of  the 
ancient  liberties  of  the  country,  with  indignation. 
At  first  the  opposition  of  the  Flemings  obliged  the 
king  to  recall  his  old  minister,  the  Cardinal  Gran- 
vella  (1563)  ;  the  greatest  lords  formed  the  con- 
federation of  the  Gueux,  and  hung  wooden  porren- 
gers  around  their  necks,  associating  themselves 
thus  with  the  lower  classes  (1566).  The  Calvin- 
ists  raise  their  heads  on  all  sides  ;  print  more  than 
five  thousand  works  against  the  ancient  worship ; 
and  in  the  provinces  of  Brabant  and  Flanders  alone 
they  plunder  and  profane  four  hundred  churches. 

This  last  excess  filled  up  the  measure  of  crime. 
The  savage  soul  of  Philip  II.  already  conceived 
the  most  fatal  plans  ;  he  resolved  to  pursue  and  ex- 
terminate his  terrible  enemies,  whom  he  met  every- 
where, even  in  his  family.  He  included  in  the 


MODERN    HISTORY.  237 

same  hatred  as  well  the  legal  opposition  of  the  no- 
ble Flemings  as  the  image-breaking  fury  of  the 
Calvinists,  and  the  obstinate  attachment  of  the  poor 
Moors  to  the  religion,  language,  and  customs  of 
their  fathers.  But  he  would  not  act  without  the 
sanction  of  the  Church  ;  he  obtained  from  the  In- 
quisition a  secret  condemnation  of  his  rebels  in 
the  Netherlands  ;  he  questioned  even  the  most  cele- 
brated doctors,  among  others,  Oradug,  professor  of 
theology  at  the  University  of  Alcala,  upon  the 
measures  which  he  ought  to  take  with  regard  to 
the  Moors  ;  Oradug  replied  by  the  proverb,  "  Des 
ennemies  toujours  le  moins"  The  king,  confirmed 
in  his  plans  of  vengeance,  swore  to  give  an  exam- 
ple in  the  persons  of  his  enemies  in  a  manner  that 
should  make  the  ears  of  Christendom  tingle,  though 
it  placed  all  his  estates  in  danger. 

He  began  by  following,  without  distinction  of  per- 
son, and  with  an  atrocious  inflexibility,  the  bloody 
councils  which  he  had  caused  to  be  given  to  the 
court  of  France  by  the  Duke  of  Alba.  His  son, 
Don  Carlos,  spoke  of  going  to  place  himself  at 
the  head  of  the  rebels  of  the  Netherlands  ;  Philip 
caused  his  death  to  be  hastened  by  physicians 
(1568).  He  organized  the  Inquisition  in  America 
(1570) ;  he  disarmed  all  the  Moors  of  Valencia  in 
one  day ;  forbade  the  Moors  of  Grenada  to  wear  the 
Arabian  dress,  or  to  speak  their  own  language  ;  he 


238  SUMMARY    OF 

prohibited  the  use  of  the  baths,  of  the  Zembras,  the 
Leilas,  and  even  the  green  branches,  with  which 
these  unfortunate  beings  covered  their  graves ; 
their  children  of  more  than  five  years  must  go  to 
school  to  learn  the  Castilian  religion  and  language 
(1563-68).  In  the  mean  time,  the  bloody  Duke 
of  Alba,  at  the  head  of  an  army  fanatical  as  Spain, 
and  profligate  as  Italy,*  marched  from  Italy  to 
Flanders.  At  the  report  of  his  coming,  the  Swiss 
armed  themselves  to  cover  Geneva.  One  hundred 
thousand  persons,  imitating  the  Prince  of  Orange, 
fled  from  the  Netherlands.!  The  Duke  of  Alba 
established,  at  his  arrival,  the  Council  of  Troubles, 
the  Council  of  Blood,  as  the  Belgians  called  it,  and 
which  he  composed  partly  of  Spaniards  (1567). 
All  those  who  refused  to  abjure  heresy — all  who 
had  been  present  at  sermons,  were  they  even  Cath- 
olics— all  who  had  tolerated  heretics,  were  equally 
put  to  death.  The  Gueux  are  prosecuted  ;  those 
even  who  had  only  solicited  the  recall  of  Gran- 
vella,  were  sought  after  and  punished ;  the  Count 
Egmont,  whose  victories  at  St.  Quentin  and  Grave- 
lines  had  conferred  honour  on  the  commencement 
of  the  reign  of  Philip  II.,  the  idol  of  the  people, 
and  one  of  the  most  loyal  servants  of  the  king, 
perished  on  the  scaffold.  The  efforts  of  the  Prot- 

*  See  the  details  in  Meteren,  book  iii.,  page  52. 
t  Nothing  has  been  done  since  they  permitted  the  Taciturn  to  escape, 
said  Granvella. 


MODERN    HISTORY.  239 

estants  of  Germany  and  France,  who  raised  an 
army  for  Louis,  son  of  the  Prince  of  Orange,  were 
baffled  by  the  Duke  of  Alba ;  and,  as  a  greater  in- 
sult to  his  victims,  he  had  a  statue  of  bronze 
erected  in  the  citadel  of  Antwerp,  which  trampled 
slaves  under  its  feet,  and  threatened  the  city. 

There  was  the  same  barbarity,  the  same  success 
in  Spain ;  Philip  seized  with  joy  the  opportunity 
of  the  revolt  of  the  Moors  to  overwhelm  those  un- 
fortunate people.  At  the  moment  that  he  turned 
his  arms  abroad,  he  would  leave  no  resistance  be- 
hind him  ;  the  weight  of  the  oppression  gave  some 
courage  to  the  Moors  ;  a  manufacturer  of  Carmine, 
of  the  family  of  Abencerrages,  had  secret  com- 
munication with  some  others  ;  clouds  of  smoke 
arose  from  mountain  to  mountain ;  the  red  colours 
were  raised  again ;  the  women  even  armed  them- 
selves with  long  packing  needles,  to  pierce  the 
bellies  of  the  horses  ;  the  priests  were  killed  every- 
where. But  soon  the  veteran  regiments  of  Spain 
arrived.  The  Moors  received  some  feeble  suc- 
cour from  Algiers ;  in  vain  they  implored  the  aid 
of  the  Sultan  Selim.  Old  men,  children,  suppliant 
women,  were  massacred  without  mercy.  The 
king  ordered  that  all  over  ten  years  who  remained 
should  become  slaves  (1571). 

St.  Bartholomew,  1572.  — The  feeble  and  des- 
picable government  of  France  was  unwilling  to 


240  SUMMARY    OF 

be  left  behind.  The  exasperation  of  the  Catholics 
had  become  extreme  since  they  saw  at  the  nuptials 
of  the  King  of  Navarre  and  Margaret  of  Valois, 
in  Paris,  those  gloomy  and  severe  men  whom  they 
had  so  often  encountered  on  the  field  of  battle,  and 
whose  presence  they  regarded  as  an  insult.  They 
counted  their  own  number,  and  began  to  cast  dark 
looks  on  their  enemies.  Without  giving  credit  to 
the  queen-mother  or  to  her  sons  for  a  dissimulation 
so  long  continued,  and  a  plan  so  well  devised,  we 
can  imagine  that  the  possibility  of  such  an  event 
had  strengthened  the  inducements  to  the  peace  of 
St.  Germain.  Yet  so  daring  a  crime  would  not 
have  been  resolved  on  had  they  not  feared  for  a 
moment  the  power  of  Coligni  over  the  young 
Charles  IX.  His  mother  and  brother,  the  Duke 
of  Anjou,  whom  he  began  to  threaten,  recovered 
their  influence  over  this  feeble  and  capricious  be- 
ing, through  fear,  which  soon  turned  to  rage,  and 
which  caused  him  to  resolve  upon  the  massacre  of 
the  Protestants  as  readily  as  he  would  before  have 
ordered  that  of  the  principal  Catholics.  On  the 
24th  of  August,  1672,  about  two  or  three  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  the  bell  of  St.  Germain  1'Auxerrois 
sounded,  and  the  young  Henry  of  Guise,  thinking 
to  avenge  the  death  of  his  father,  commenced  the 
massacre  by  cutting  the  throat  of  Coligni.  There 
was  heard  nothing  but  the  cry,  "  Kill !  kill  /"  The 


MODERN    HISTORY.  241 

greater  part  of  the  Protestants  were  surprised  in 
their  beds.  A  wounded  gentleman  was  pursued, 
the  halbert  in  his  back,  even  to  the  chamber  and 
bedside  of  the  Queen  of  Navarre.  A  Catholic 
boasted  that  he  bought  from  the  murderers  more 
than  30  Huguenots,  to  torture  them  at  pleasure. 
Charles  IX.  had  his  brother-in-law  and  the  Prince 
of  Conde  brought  before  him,  and  said  to  them,  the 
Mass  or  Death  f  It  is  said  that  he  fired  from  the 
window  of  the  Louvre  on  the  Protestants,  who  fled 
from  the  other  side  of  the  river.  The  next  morning 
a  hawthorn  having  reblossomed  in  the  churchyard 
of  the  Innocents,  fanaticism  was  reanimated  by 
this  pretended  miracle,  and  the  massacre  recom- 
menced. The  king,  the  queen-mother,  and  all  the 
court  went  to  Montfaucon  to  see  what  remained  of 
the  body  of  the  admiral  We  must  add  Hopital  to 
the  victims  of  St.  Bartholomew  ;  when  he  heard 
the  odious  news,  he  wished  the  gates  of  his  house 
to  be  opened  to  the  murderers  who  might  come  ; 
he  survived  it  only  six  months,  always  repeating, 
"  Excidat  ilia  dies  cevo  /" 

A  circumstance  as  horrible  as  St.  Bartholomew 
itself  was  the  joy  which  it  excited.  They  struck 
medals  of  it  at  Rome,  and  Philip  II.  congratulated 
the  court  of  France.  He  thought  Protestantism 
subdued.  He  associated  St.  Bartholomew,  and  the 
massacres  ordered  by  the  Duke  of  Alba,  with  the 
X 


242  SUMMARY    OF 

glorious  event  of  the  battle  of  Lepanto,  in  which 
the  fleets  of  Spain,  the  pope,  and  Venice,  com- 
manded by  John  of  Austria,  natural  son  of  Charles 
V.,  had  destroyed  the  Ottoman  navy  in  the  prece-i 
ding  year.     The   Turks    conquered    by  sea,  the! 
Moors  reduced,  the  heretics  exterminated  in  France 
and  in  the  Netherlands,  seemed  to  prepare  the  way 
for  the  King  of  Spain  towards  that  universal  mon- 
archy to  which  his  father  had  vainly  aspired. 


CHAPTER  X. 

FARTHER    EVENTS    TO   THE    DEATH    OF    HENRY   IV., 

1572-1610 GLANCE     AT    THE     SITUATION     OF 

THE     BELLIGERANT    POWERS    AFTER    THE    RELI- 
GIOUS WARS. 

Death  of  Charles  IX.,  1574.— Insurrection  of  the  Netherlands,  1572.— 
Union  of  Utrecht,  1579. — Formation  of  the  League  in  France,  1577. — 
Power  of  the  Guises.— Battle  of  Contres,  1587. — Barricades,  States  of 
Blois,  1588.— Murder  of  Henry  III.,  1589.— Accession  of  Henry  IV.— 
Death  of  Mary  Stuart,  1587.— Armament  of  Philip  II.,  1588.— Gran- 
deur of  Elizabeth. 

Death  of  Charles  IX. — King  Charles,  hearing 
on  the  evening  of  the  same  day,  and  all  the  next 
day  the  accounts  of  the  murders  and  slaughters  of 
old  men,  women,  and  children,  drew  aside  Mr. 
Ambroise  Pare,  his  first  surgeon,  to  whom  he  was 


MODERN    HISTORY.  243 

much  attached,  although  he  was  of  the  Protestant 
religion,  and  said  to  him,  "  Ambroise,  I  know  not 
what  has  come  over  me  these  two  or  three  days, 
but  I  find  my  mind  and  body  in  disorder :  I  see 
everything  as  if  I  had  a  fever  ;  every  moment,  as 
well  waking  as  sleeping,  the  hideous  and  bloody 
faces  of  the  killed  appear  before  me  ;  I  wish  the 
weak  and  innocent  had  not  been  included."  From 
that  time  he  lingered  on,  and  eighteen  months  after 
a  bloody  flux  carried  him  off  (1574.) 

Henry  III. — The  crime  had  been  useless.  In 
several  cities  the  governors  refused  to  consummate 
it.  The  Calvinists  throwing  themselves  into  La 
Rochelle,  Sancerre,  and  other  places  of  the  South, 
defended  themselves  there  most  desperately.  The 
horror  inspired  by  St.  Bartholomew  gave  them 
auxiliaries,  by  creating  among  the  Catholics  a 
moderate  party,  which  they  called  the  Politi- 
cians. The  new  king,  Henry  III.,  who  returned 
from  Poland  to  succeed  his  brother,  was  known 
as  one  of  the  authors  of  the  massacre.  His  own 
brother,  the  Duke  of  Alencon,  fled  from  the  court 
with  the  young  King  of  Navarre,  and  thus  united 
the  Politicians  and  Calvinists. 

Philip  loses  half  of  the  Netherlands. — The  tyr- 
anny of  the  Duke  of  Alba  was  not  more  successful 
in  the  Netherlands.  As  long  as  he  contented 
himself  with  erecting  scaffolds  the  people  remain- 


244  SUMMARY    OF 

ed  quiet ;  they  saw,  without  revolting,  the  most 
illustrious  heads  of  the  nobility  fall.  There  was 
but  one  way  to  render  the  discontent  common  to 
Catholics  and  Protestants,  to  nobles  and  citizens, 
to  Belgians  and  Dutchmen :  it  was  to  establish 
oppressive  duties,  and  let  the  badly-paid  soldiers 
plunder  the  inhabitants :  the  Duke  of  Alba  did 
both.  The  duty  of  the  tenth,  levied  upon  pro- 
visions, made  the  agents  of  the  Spanish  reve- 
nue interpose  in  the  smallest  sales  in  the  mar- 
kets and  shops.  The  innumerable  forfeits,  the 
continued  vexations,  irritated  all  the  population. 
While  the  shops  were  closed,  and  the  Duke  of 
Alba  had  the  merchants  who  were  guilty  of  having 
closed  them  hung,  the  gueux  marins  (it  is  thus 
that  they  called  the  fugitives,  who  lived  by  piracy), 
driven  from  the  ports  of  England  on  the  demand 
of  Philip  II.,  seized  the  fort  of  Brielle,  in  Holland 
(1572),  and  commenced  the  war  in  this  country, 
intersected  by  so  many  branches  of  the  sea,  rivers, 
and  canals.  A  number  of  cities  drove  away  the 
Spaniards.  Perhaps  there  yet  remained  some 
means  of  pacification,  but  the  Duke  of  Alba  taught 
the  first  cities  which  gave  themselves  up  that  they 
had  neither  clemency  nor  good  faith  to  hope  for. 
At  Rotterdam,  Malines,  Zutphen,  Naarden,  the 
capitulations  were  violated,  the  inhabitants  killed. 
Harlem,  knowing  what  she  had  to  expect,  broke 


MODERN    HISTORY.  245 

the  dams,  and  sent  ten  Spanish  heads  as  payment 
of  her  tenth.  After  a  memorable  resistance,  she 
obtained  pardon,  and  the  Duke  of  Alba  confounded 
in  a  general  massacre  the  sick  and  wounded. 
The  Spanish  soldiers  felt  themselves  some  remorse 
at  this  want  of  faith,  and  in  atonement  they  conse- 
crated a  part  of  the  booty  to  build  a  house  for  the 
Jesuits  in  Brussels. 

Under  the  successors  of  the  Duke  of  Alba,  the 
licentiousness  of  the  Spanish  troops,  who  plun- 
dered Antwerp,  forced  the  Walloon  provinces  to 
unite  in  the  revolt  with  those  of  the  North  (1567) ; 
but  this  alliance  could  not  last.  The  revolution 
was  consolidated  by  being  concentrated  at  the 
North  in  the  union  of  Utrecht,  the  commencement 
of  the  Republic  of  the  United  Provinces  (1579). 
The  intolerance  of  the  Protestants  restored  the 
southern  provinces  to  the  yoke  of  the  King  of 
Spain.  The  Dutch  population,  all  Protestant,  all 
German  in  character  and  language,  entirely  com- 
posed of  citizens,  and  given  to  maritime  trade,  drew 
that  which  was  analogous  to  itself  from  the  south- 
ern provinces.  The  Spaniards  could  reconquer  in 
Belgium  the  walls  and  the  territory,  but  the  most 
industrious  part  of  the  population  escaped  them. 

The  insurgents  had  offered  successively  to  sub- 
mit themselves  to  the  German  branch  of  the  house 
of  Austria,  to  France,  and  to  England.  The  Arch- 


246  SUMMARY    OP 

duke  Mathias  offered  them  no  succour.  Don  Juan, 
brother  and  general  of  Philip  II.,  the  Duke  of  An- 
jou,  brother  of  Henry  III.,  Leicester,  favourite  of 
Elizabeth,  who  wished  successively  to  become 
sovereigns  of  the  Netherlands,  showed  themselves 
equally  treacherous  (1577, 1582, 1587).  Holland, 
regarded,  by  all  to  whom  she  addressed  herself, 
as  prey,  decided  finally,  for  want  of  a  sovereign, 
to  remain  a  republic.  The  genius  of  this  rising 
state  was  the  Prince  of  Orange,  who,  abandoning 
the  southern  provinces  to  the  invincible  Duke 
of  Parma,  contended  against  him  by  policy,  until 
a  fanatic,  armed  by  Spain,  had  assassinated  him 
(1584). 

The  League,  1577.— While  Philip  lost  half  of 
the  Netherlands,  he  gained  the  kingdom  of  Portu- 
gal. The  king,  Don  Sebastian,  had  thrown  him- 
self on  the  coast  of  Africa  with  ten  thousand  men, 
in  the  vain  hope  of  conquering  it  and  penetrating 
to  India.  This  hero,  as  he  would  have  been  in 
the  time  of  the  Crusades,  was  in  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury but  an  adventurer.  His  uncle,  the  Cardinal 
D.  Henri,  who  succeeded  him,  having  died  soon 
after,  Philip  II.  seized  Portugal  in  spite  of  France, 
and  of  the  Portuguese  themselves  (1580). 

Battle  of  Coutras,  1587. — In  France  all  was 
propitious  to  Philip,  The  fickleness  of  Henry 
III.,  that  of  the  Duke  of  Alen9on,  who  placed  him- 


MODERN    HISTORY.  247 

self  at  the  head  of  the  French  Protestants,  and 
afterward  of  those  of  the  Netherlands,  had  decided 
the  Catholic  party  to  seek  a  chief  out  of  the  royal 
family.  By  the  treaty  of  1576,  the  king  had 
granted  the  liberty  of  worship  to  the  Calvinists 
throughout  all  the  kingdom,  excepting  Paris  :  he 
gave  them  a  divided  chamber,  whose  members 
were  one  half  Roman  Catholics,  and  the  other 
half  Protestants,  in  every  parliament ;  and  several 
cities  for  security  (Angouleme,  Niort,  La  Char- 
ite,  Bourges,  Saumur,  and  Mezieres),  where  they 
might  hold  armed  garrisons,  paid  by  the  king. 
This  treaty  determined  the  formation  of  the  League 
(1577).  The  associates  swore  to  defend  the  reli- 
gion ;  to  bring  the  provinces  lack  to  the  same  laws, 
exemptions,  and  liberties  which  they  had  at  the  time 
of  Clovis  ;  to  proceed  against  those  who  should  in- 
jure the  union,  without  respect  of  person ;  finally,  to 
render  prompt  obedience  and  faithful  services  to  the 
chief  who  should  be  named.  The  king  thought  to 
become  master  of  the  association  by  declaring  him- 
self its  chief.  He  began  to  have  a  glimpse  at  the 
designs  *of  the  Duke  of  Guise  ;  they  had  found 
in  the  papers  of  a  lawyer  who  had  died  at  Lyon, 
returning  from  Rome,  a  piece  in  which  he  said 
that  the  descendants  of  Hugh  Capet  had  hitherto 
reigned  illegally,  and  by  a  usurpation,  cursed  of 
God ;  that  the  throne  belonged  to  the  princes  of 


248  SUMMARY    OF 

Lorraine,  the  true  posterity  of  Charlemagne.  The 
death  of  the  brother  of  the  king  encouraged  these 
pretensions  (1584.)  Henry  having  no  children, 
and  the  majority  of  the  Catholics  repudiating  the 
heretic  prince,  to  whom  the  crown  would  devolve, 
the  Duke  of  Guise,  and  the  King  of  Spain,  broth- 
er-in-law of  Henry  III.,  united  themselves  to  de- 
throne the  king,  leaving  the  spoils  to  be  quarrelled 
for  afterward.  They  had  but  too  many  means  to 
make  him  odious.  In  the  reverses  of  his  army 
there  seemed  as  much  of  treachery  as  of  misfor- 
tune ;  the  feeble  prince  was  at  the  same  time  beat- 
en by  the  Protestants  and  accused  by  the  Catholics. 
The  victory  of  Coutras,  where  the  King  of  Na- 
varre made  himself  illustrious  by  his  valour  and  his 
clemency  towards  the  conquered  (1587),  exasper- 
ated the  irritation  of  the  Catholics  to  the  highest 
degree.  While  the  League  organized  itself  in  the 
capital,  Henry  III.,  divided  between  the  claims  of 
a  monkish  devotion  and  the  excesses  of  a  disgust- 
ing debauchery,  ^ave  to  all  Paris  the  spectacle  of 
his  scandalous  prodigality  and  puerile  tastes.  He 
spent  1,200,000  francs  at  the  marriage  of*  Joyeuse, 
his  favourite,  and  had  nothing  to  pay  a  messenger 
to  carry  a  letter,  on  which  depended  the  safety  of 
the  kingdom,  to  the  Duke  of  Guise.  He  passed 
his  time  in  arranging  the  collars  of  the  queen  and 
in  curling  his  own  hair.  He  had  himself  made 


MODERN    HISTORY.  249 

prior  of  a  fraternity  of  white  penitents.  "  At  the 
beginning  of  November,  the  king  made  known 
through  the  churches  of  Paris,  which  were  the  ora- 
tories, otherwise  called  Paradises,  that  he  daily 
went  to,  in  order  to  bestow  his  alms  and  pray  in 
great  devotion,  leaving  off  his  ruffled  shirts,  of 
which  he  had  formerly  been  so  careful,  to  adopt 
the  Italian  fashion  of  wearing  the  collar  turned 
over.  He  generally  rode  in  his  coach  with  the 
queen,  his  wife,  through  the  streets  and  squares  of 
Paris,  carried  small  lapdogs,  had  grammar  read  to 
him,  and  learned  to  decline."* 

Thus  the  crisis  became  imminent  in  France  and 
all  the  West  (1585-1588) ;  it  seemed  necessarily 
favourable  to  Spain  ;  the  taking  of  Antwerp  by  the 
Prince  of  Parma,  the  most  memorable  achievement 
of  arms  in  the  sixteenth  century,  completed  the 
reduction  of  Belgium  (1585).  The  King  of  France 
had  been  obliged  to  place  himself  at  the  discretion 
of  the  Guises  (the  same  year),  and  the  League  took 
for  its  home  an  immense  city,  where  religious  fanat- 
icism was  re-enforced  by  democratic  fanaticism 
(1588).  But  the  King  of  Navarre  resisted  the 
reunited  forces  of  the  Catholics,  even  against  all 
probability  of  success  (1586-87).  Elizabeth  gave 
an  army  to  the  United  Provinces  (1585),  money  to 
the  King  of  Navarre  (1585);  she  frustrated  all 
*  L?Etoile,  part  xlv.,  p.  133, 


250  SUMMARY    OF 

the  conspiracies  (1584-5-6),  and  struck  Spain  and 
the  Guises  in  the  person  of  Mary  Stuart. 

Death  of  Mary  Stuart. — For  a  long  time  Eliza- 
beth had  replied  to  the  solicitation  of  her  counsel- 
lors, Can  I  kill  the  bird  which  sought  refuge  in  my 
losom  1  She  had  accepted  embroidery  and  Paris- 
ian robes  which  her  captive  offered  her.  But  the 
increasing  provocations  of  the  great  European  con- 
test, the  fear  which  it  constantly  caused  Elizabeth 
for  her  own  life,  and  the  mysterious  power  of  the 
Jesuits,  who  from  the  Continent  constantly  disturbed 
England,  brought  the  queen  to  the  last  extremity. 

Notwithstanding  the  mediation  of  the  Kings  of 
France  and  Scotland,  Mary  was  condemned  to 
death  by  a  commission,  as  guilty  of  having  con- 
spired with  foreigners  for  the  invasion  of  Eng- 
land and  the  death  of  Elizabeth.  A  saloon  was 
hung  with  black  in  the  castle  of  Fotheringay  ;  the 
Queen  of  Scotland  appeared  there  in  her  richest 
garments ;  she  consoled  her  weeping  domestics, 
protested  her  innocence,  and  pardoned  her  enemies. 
Elizabeth  aggravated  the  horrors  of  this  cruel  de- 
cision by  affected  regrets  and  hypocritical  denials 
(1587). 

Barricades^  1588.  —  The  death  of  Mary  Stuart 
was  nowhere  more  resented  than  in  France.  But 
who  should  avenge  it  ?  Her  brother-in-law,  Henry 
III.,  fell  from  the  throne  ;  her  cousin,  Henry  of 


MODERN    HISTORY.  251 

Guise,  thought  to  ascend  it.  France  was  mad  after 
this  man,  for  to  say  in  love  with  him  would  be  too 
little.  Since  his  success  over  the  Germans,  the 
allies  of  the  King  of  Navarre,  the  people  called 
him  by  no  other  name  than  the  New  Gideon,  the, 
New  Macabee ;  the  nobles  called  him  Our  Great; 
he  had  only  to  go  to  Paris  to  be  master  of  it.  The 
king  forbids  him  ;  he  arrives,  and  all  the  city  runs 
before  him,  crying,  "  Vive  le  Due  de  Guise  !  Ho- 
sanna  filio  David  /"  He  braves  the  king  in  the 
Louvre,  at  the  head  of  400  gentlemen.  From  that 
time  the  Lorraine  party  believed  they  had  gained 
their  cause  :  the  king  was  to  be  thrown  into  a 
convent ;  the  Duchess  of  Montpensier,  sister  of 
the  Duke  of  Guise,  shows  the  scissors  of  gold 
with  which  she  was  to  shear  the  Valois.  The 
people  everywhere  raised  barricades,  disarmed 
the  Swiss,  whom  the  king  had  just  called  into 
Paris,  and  had  them  all  massacred  without  the 
sanction  of  the  Duke  of  Guise.  A  moment  of  ir- 
resolution caused  the  latter  to  loose  all ;  while  he 
delayed  attacking  the  Louvre,  the  aged  Catharine 
de  Medicis  amused  him  with  proposals,  and  the 
king,  in  the  mean  time,  escaped  to  Chartres.i 
Guise  tried  in  vain  to  reunite  himself  to  the  Par- 
liament. "  'Tis  a  great  pity,"  said  to  him  the  pres- 
ident Achille,  of  Harlay,  "  when  the  valet  chases 
the  master;  as  for  the  rest,  my  soul  is  for  God, 


252  SUMMARY    OF 

my  heart  for  the  king,  my  body  in  the  hands  of 
the  wicked." 

States  of  Blois. — The  king,  liberated,  but  aban- 
doned by  all,  was  obliged  to  yield ;  he  approved 
of  all  that  had  been  done,  gave  up  a  great  number 
of  cities  to  the  duke,  named  him  chief-general  of 
the  armies  of  the  kingdom,  and  called  the  States- 
General  to  Blois.  But  the  duke  wished  a  higher 
title.  He  overwhelmed  the  king  with  so  many 
outrages,  that  he  wrung  from  the  most  timid  of  men 
a  bold  resolution — that  of  assassinating  him. 

Thursday,  December  22,  1588,  the  Duke  of 
Guise  found  a  billet  under  his  napkin,  in  which 
was  written,  "  Take  care !  they  are  about  to  play 
you  a  foul  game."  Having  read  it,  he  wrote  be- 
low, "  They  will  not  dare''  and  threw  it  under  the 
table.  "  This  is,"  said  he,  "  the  ninth  warning  to- 
day." Notwithstanding  these  warnings,  he  persist- 
ed in  going  to  the  council,  and  as  he  crossed  the 
chamber  where  the  forty-jive  members  had  assem- 
bled, he  was  killed. 

Destruction  of  the  Armada. — During  this  tragedy, 
'  which  favoured  more  than  it  thwarted  the  designs 
of  Spain,  Philip  II.  undertook  the  conquest  of  Eng- 
land, and  the  avenging  of  the  death  of  Mary  Stuart. 
On  the  3d  of  June,  1588,  the  most  formidable  ar- 
mament which  ever  appalled  the  Christian  world 
left  the  mouth  of  the  Tagus  :  one  hundred  and 


MODERN    HISTORY.  253 

thirty-five  vessels,  of  a  size  till  then  unheard  of, 
eight  thousand  sailors,  nineteen  thousand  soldiers, 
the  flower  of  the  Spanish  nobility,  and  Lope  de 
Vega  with  the  fleet,  to  chant  the  victory.  The 
Spaniards,  intoxicated  at  the  spectacle,  honoured 
the  fleet  with  the  name  of  the  Invincible  Armada. 
She  was  to  join  the  Prince  of  Parma  at  the  Neth- 
erlands, and  to  guard  the  passage  of  thirty-two 
thousand  veteran  soldiers.  The  forest  of  Waes, 
in  Flanders,  was  converted  into  transport  ships. 
The  alarm  was  extreme  in  England  ;  they  showed 
at  the  church  doors  the  instruments  of  torture 
which  the  inquisitors  brought  over  in  the  Spanish 
fleet.  The  queen  appeared  on  horseback  before 
the  army  assembled  at  Tewksbury,  and  promised 
to  die  for  her  people.  But  the  strength  of  England 
was  in  her  navy.  The  greatest  seamen  of  the 
age,  Drake,  Hawkins,  Frobisher,  served  under 
Admiral  Howard.  The  small  English  vessels 
harassed  the  Spanish  fleet,  already  partly  disabled 
by  the  elements;  they  beset  her  with  their  fire- 
ships  ;  the  Prince  of  Parma  could  not  leave  the 
ports  of  Flanders,  and  the  rest  of  this  formidable 
fleet,  driven  by  the  tempest  even  to  the  coasts  of 
Scotland  and  Ireland,  went  to  conceal  itself  in  the 
ports  of  Spain. 

The  remainder  of  the  life  of  Elizabeth  was  but 
one  triumph ;  she  baffled  the  attempt  of  Philip  II 
Y 


254  SUMMARY    OF 

on  Ireland,  and  prosecuted  her  victory  over  all  the 
seas.  The  enthusiasm  of  Europe,  roused  by  soich 
success,  assumed  a  form  the  most  flattering  to 
woman,  that  of  ingenious  flattery.  The  age  of 
Elizabeth  was  forgotten  (55  years).  Henry  IV. 
declared  to  the  ambassador  of  England  that  he 
thought  her  handsomer  than  his  Gabriele.  Shaks- 
peare  pronounced  her  the  fair  Vestal,  seated  upon 
the  throne  of  the  West;  but  no  homage  touched 
her  more  than  that  of  the  witty  Sir  Walter  Raleigh, 
and  the  young  and  brilliant  Earl  of  Essex ;  the 
former  had  commenced  his  fortune  by  throwing 
his  cloak  under  the  feet  of  the  queen,  who  was 
crossing  a  muddy  place  ;  Essex  had  charmed  her 
by  his  heroism.  He  fled  from  court  in  spite  of 
her  orders,  to  take  part  in  the  expedition  of  Cadiz  ; 
he  there  jumped  on  shore  the  first  one,  and  if  they 
had  confided  in  him,  Cadiz  might,  perhaps,  have 
remained  in  the  hands  of  the  English.  His  in- 
gratitude and  tragical  end  saddened  the  last  days 
of  Elizabeth. 

§    II.    TO   THE    DEATH  OF   HENRY  IV. — GLANCE  AT 
THE  SITUATION  OF  THE  BELLIGERANT  POWERS. 

Mayenne.— Combat  of  Argues.— Battle  of  Jori,  1590.— State  of  Paris, 
1593.— Abjuration  and  Absolution  of  Henry  IV.,  1593-1595.— Edict  of 
Nantes.— Peace  of  Vervins,  1598.— Weakness  of  Spain  ;  Expulsion  of 
the  Moors  from  Valencia,  1609. — Administration  of  Henry  IV.*— Afflu- 
ence of  France. — Assassination  of  Henry  IV.,  1610. 

Philip  II.,  repulsed  from  Holland  and  England, 


MODERN    HISTORY.  255 

turned  all  his  forces  against  France  ;  the  Duke  of 
Mayenne,  brother  of  Guise,  not  less  able,  but  less 
popular,  could  not  counterbalance  the  gold  and  the 
intrigues  of  Spain. 

Assassination  of  Henry  I//.,  1589. — As  soon 
as  the  news  of  the  death  of  Guise  had  arrived 
in  Paris,  the  people  dressed  themselves  in  mourn- 
ing ;  the  preachers  thundered ;  they  hung  the 
churches  in  black  ;  they  placed  wax  images  of  the 
king  on  the  altar,  and  pierced  them  with  needles. 
Mayenne  was  created  chief  of  the  League  ;  the 
States  named  forty  persons  to  govern.  Bussi  Le 
Clerc,  who  from  a  master-at-arms  and  an  attorney 
had  become  governor  of  the  Bastile,  sent  half  of  the 
Parliament  there.  Henry  III.  had  no  resource  but 
to  throw  himself  into  the  arms  of  the  King  of  Na- 
varre ;  both  came  to  besiege  Paris.  They  en- 
camped at  St.  Cloud,  when  a  young  monk  named 
Clement  assassinated  Henry  III.  by  stabbing  him 
in  the  lower  part  of  his  stomach.  The  Duchess 
of  Montpensier,  sister  of  the  Duke  of  Guise,  who 
awaited  the  news  on  the  road,  received  it  first,  al- 
most frantic  with  joy.  They  offered  in  the  church- 
es the  image  of  Clement  for  the  adoration  of  the 
people  ;  his  mother,  a  poor  country  woman  of  Bur- 
gundy, having  gone  to  Paris,  the  people  came  be- 
fore her,  crying,  "  Happy  the  womb  that  has  borne 
thee,  and  the  paps  which  thou  hast  sucked  /"  (1589). 


256  SUMMARY    OF 

Henry  IV. — Argues — Ivri. — Henry  IV.,  aban- 
doned by  the  greater  part  of  the  Catholics,  was 
soon  closely  pressed  by  Mayenne,  who  confidently 
expected  to  lead  him,  bound  hand  and  foot,  to  the 
Parisians.  Already  they  let  out  the  windows  to 
see  him  pass.  But  Mayenne  had  to  deal  with  an 
adversary  who  slept  not,  and  who  wore  out,  as  the 
Prince  of  Parma  said,  more  boots  than  slippers. 
He  waited  for  Mayenne  near  Arques,  in  Norman- 
dy, and  fought  with  three  thousand  men  against 
thirty  thousand.  Henry,  supported  by  a  crowd  of 
gentlemen,  now  took  his  turn  to  attack  Paris  and 
pillage  the  Faubourg  St.  Germain. 

The  following  year  (1590)  there  was  another 
victory  at  Ivri  on  the  Eure,  where  he  beat  Ma- 
yenne and  the  Spaniards.  We  have  the  words 
which  he  addressed  to  his  troops  before  the  battle  : 
"  If  you  will  run  the  hazard  for  mey  my  companions, 
I  will  also  for  you.  I  will  conquer  and  die  with 
you  . .  .guard  well  your  ranks,  I  beg  of  you,  and  if 
you  lose  your  colours  or  standard,  lose  not  sight  of 
my  white  feather ;  you  will  always  Jind  it  in  the  path 
of  honour  and  victory"  From  Ivri  he  came  to 
blockade  the  capital ;  this  unfortunate  city,  a  prey 
to  the  fury  of  the  Seize*  and  the  tyranny  of  the 
Spanish  soldiers,  was  reduced  to  the  last  extremity 

*  A  fanatical  league  formed  at  Paris,  called  the  League  of  the  Six* 
teen. 


MODERN    HISTORF.  257 

of  hunger :  they  made  bread  even  of  the  bones  of 
the  dead;  mothers  devoured  their  children.  The 
Parisians,  oppressed  by  their  defenders,  only  found 
pity  from  the  prince  who  besieged  them.  He  al- 
lowed a  great  number  of  useless  mouths  to  pass 
out.  Shall  I,  whose  duty  it  is  to  feed  them,  be  their 
destroyer  1  Paris  must  not  be  a  graveyard  ;  I  will 
not  reign  over  the  dead.  And  again  he  said,  /  re- 
semble the  true  mother  of  Solomon;  I  would  rather 
not  have  Paris  than  to  have  it  torn  in  pieces.  Paris 
was  delivered  only  by  the  arrival  of  the  Duke  of 
Parma,  who,  by  his  skilful  manoeuvres,  forced 
Henry  to  raise  the  siege,  and  afterward  returned 
to  the  Netherlands. 

Abjuration  of  Henry  IV.,  1594. — In  the  mean 
time  the  party  of  the  League  was  daily  growing 
weaker.  The  bond  of  their  party  was  hatred  to- 
wards the  king.  It  had  prepared  its  own  dissolu- 
tion by  assassinating  Henry  III.  A  war  at  the 
time  divided  the  principal  factions :  that  of  the 
Guises,  upheld  especially  by  the  nobility  and  Par- 
liament ;  and  that  of  Spain,  sustained  by  obscure 
demagogues.  The  second  concentrated  in  the 
large  cities,  and,  without  military  spirit,  distinguish- 
ed itself  by  the  persecution  of  the  magistrates 
(1589-91).  Mayenne  repressed  it  (1591),  but 
only  at  the  expense  to  the  League  of  its  demo- 
cratic energy.  In  the  meaa  time,  the  Guises, 


258  SUMMARY    OF 

twice  beaten,  twice  blockaded  in  Paris,  could  not 
sustain  themselves  without  the  support  of  those 
same  Spaniards  whose  agents  they  had  proscribed. 
Divisions  broke  out  in  the  States  of  Paris  (1593)  ; 
Mayenne  caused  the  pretensions  of  Philip  II.  to 
miscarry,  but  without  gain  to  himself.  The 
League,  which  was  in  -effect  dissolved  from  that 
moment,  lost  every  pretext  for  its  continuance,  by 
the  abjuration,  and,  above  all,  by  the  absolution  of 
Henry  IV.  (1593-95),  and  it  lost  its  principal 
point  of  support  by  the  entrance  of  the  king  into 
the  capital  (1594).  He  pardoned  every  one,  and 
the  very  evening  of  his  entrance  visited  Madame 
de  Montpensier.  From  that  time  the  League  was 
nothing  but  a  burlesque,  and  the  Satire  Menippee 
gave  it  the  finishing  stroke.  Henry  gained  his 
kingdom,  piece  by  piece,  from  the  hands  of  the  no- 
bles, who  had  divided  it  among  themselves. 

Peace  of  Vermns,  1598. — In  1595  the  civil  war 
made  room  for  a  foreign  war.  The  king  turned 
the  military  ardour  of  the  nation  against  the  Span- 
iards. In  the  memorable  year  1588  Philip  II.  at 
last  yielded ;  all  his  projects  had  failed,  his  treas- 
ures were  exhausted,  his  navy  nearly  ruined.  He 
renounced  his  pretensions  to  France  (May  2),  and 
transferred  the  Netherlands  to  his  daughter  (May 
6).  Elizabeth  and  the  United  Provinces  were 
alarmed  at  the  peace  of  Vervins,  and  made  a  clo- 


MODERN    HISTORY.  259 

ser  alliance  with  each  other ;  Henry  IV.  had  seen 
that  nothing  more  was  to  be  feared  from  Philip  II. 
(who  died  September  13).  The  King  of  France 
terminated  its  internal  troubles  at  the  same  time 
with  the  foreign  war,  by  yielding  religious  tolera- 
tion and  political  guarantees  to  the  Protestants 
(Edict  of  Nantes,  April). 

Weakness  of  Spain. — The  situation  of  the  bel- 
ligerant  powers,  after  these  long  wars,  presented  a 
striking  contrast.  It  is  the  master  of  both  ladies 
who  is  ruined.  The  weakness  of  Spain  only  in- 
creased under  the  reign  of  Cardinal  Lerma  and 
the  Duke  of  Olivarez,  favourite  of  Philip  III.  and 
of  Philip  IV.  Spain,  not  producing  enough  to  buy 
the  metals  of  America,  they  cease  to  enrich  her. 
Of  all  that  is  imported  in  America,  a  twentieth  or 
more  is  manufactured  in  Spain.  At  Seville,  the 
sixteen  hundred  looms  which  worked  on  wool  and 
silk  in  1536,  were  reduced  to  four  hundred  to- 
wards 1621.  In  one  year  alone  (1509)  Spain 
drove  out  a  million  of  industrious  subjects  (the 
Moors  of  Valencia),  and  was  forced  to  grant  a 
truce  of  twelve  years  to  the  United  Provinces. 

On  the  contrary,  France,  England,  and  the  Uni- 
ted Provinces  made  ;rapid  improvement  in  popula- 
tion, wealth,  and  greatness. 

Prosperity  of  England,  the  Netherlands,  arid, 
France. — Since  1595,  Philip  II.,  by  closing  the 


260  SUMMARY    OF 

port  of  Lisbon  against  the  Dutch,  had  forced  them 
to  seek  the  commodities  of  the  East  in  the  Indies, 
and  there  to  found  an  empire  on  the  ruins  of  that 
of  the  Portuguese.  The  Republic  was  troubled 
within  by  the  quarrels  of  the  Stadtholder  and  the 
Syndic  (Maurice  of  Orange  and  Barneveldt),  by  the 
contest  between  the  military  power  and  civil  liber- 
ty, between  the  war  party  and  the  peace  party 
(Gomarus  and  Arminius),  but  the  want  of  national 
defence  assured  the  victory  to  the  former  of  these 
two  parties.  It  cost  the  life  of  the  venerable  Bar- 
neveldt, who  was  beheaded  at  seventy  years  of 
age  (1619). 

At  the  expiration  of  the  twelve  years'  truce  there 
was  no  more  civil  war,  but  a  regular  war,  a  scien- 
tific war,  a  school  for  all  the  soldiers  of  Europe. 
The  military  skill  of  the  general  of  the  Spaniards, 
the  celebrated  Spinola,  was  balanced  by  that  of 
Prince  Frederic  Henry,  brother  and  successor  of 
Maurice. 

In  the  mean  time,  France,  under  Henry  IV.,  had 
emerged  from  her  ruins.  Notwithstanding  the 
weak  points  of  this  great  king,  and  the  faults  which 
an  attentive  examination  may  discover  in  his  reign, 
he  merited  not  the  less  the  title  to  which  he  aspi- 
red, that  of  restorer  of  France.  All  his  cares  were 
bent  upon  regulating  and  making  the  kingdom 
which  he  had  conquered  flourish :  useless  troops 


MODERN    HISTORY.  261 

were  discharged  ;  order  in  the  finances  succeeded 
to  the  most  shameful  peculations  and  robbery ;  he 
paid,  by  degrees,  all  the  debts  of  the  crown,  with- 
out  pressing  the  people.  The  peasants  even  now 
repeat  that  he  wished  them  to  have  a  fowl  in  their 
pots  every  Sunday:  a  trifling  expression,  but  a  pa- 
ternal sentiment.  It  was  an  astonishing  circum- 
stance, that,  notwithstanding  the  exhausted  state 
of  the  kingdom,  and  the  practice  of  peculation,  he 
had,  in  less  than  fifteen  years,  diminished  the  bur- 
den of  taxes  four  millions ;  that  all  other  duties 
were  reduced  to  one  half;  that  he  paid  one  hun- 
dred millions  of  debts.  He  purchased  domains  to 
the  amount  of  more  than  fifty  millions  ;  ull  the  pub- 
lic places  were  repaired,  the  magazines  and  the 
arsenals  filled,  the  great  roads  maintained.  Eter- 
nal praise  is  due  for  all  this  to  Sully  and  to  the 
king,  who  dared  to  choose  a  soldier  to  re-establish 
the  finances  of  the  State,  and  who  earnestly  co- 
operated with  his  minister. 

Administration.  —  Justice  was  reformed,  and, 
what  was  much  more  difficult,  both  religions  lived 
in  peace,  at  least  to  appearance.  Agriculture  was 
encouraged.  "  Tillage  and  pasturage"  said  Sully, 
"  are  the  two  breasts  which  have  nourished  France, 
the  true  mines  and  treasures  of  Peru.11  Commerce 
and  the  arts,  less  patronised  by  Sully,  were  still 
held  in  honour.  Fabrics  of  gold  and  silver  enrich- 


262  SUMMARY    OF 

ed  Lyons  arid  France.  Henry  established  facto- 
ries of  tapestry,  both  of  wool,  and  of  silk  worked 
with  gold.  They  began  to  make  small  glass  mir- 
rors, after  the  fashion  of  Venice.  To  him,  too,  we 
owe  silkworms,  and  the  plantations  of  mulberry- 
trees,  in  spite  of  the  opposition  of  Sully.  Henry 
had  the  canal  of  Briare  cut,  by  which  the  Seine 
was  joined  to  the  Loire.  Paris  was  enlarged  and 
embellished ;  he  built  the  Place  Royal ;  he  re- 
stored all  the  bridges.  The  Faubourg  St.  Ger- 
main belonged  not  to  the  city ;  it  was  not  paved ; 
the  king  charged  himself  with  all.  He  had  that 
beautiful  bridge  built  on  which  the  people  still  be- 
hold with  emotion  his  statue.  St.  Germain,  Mou- 
ceaux,  Fontainebleau,  and  especially  the  Louvre, 
were  enlarged,  and  almost  entirely  rebuilt.  He 
gave  lodgings  in  the  Louvre,  under  that  long  gallery 
which  is  his  work,  to  all  kinds  of  artists,  whom  he 
often  encouraged  by  kind  attentions,  as  well  as  by 
rewards.  He  was,  finally,  the  true  founder  of  the 
Royal  Library.  When  Don  Pedro,  of  Toledo, 
was  sent  as  ambassador  by  Philip  III.  to  Henry, 
he  no  more  recognised  a  city,  which  he  had 
once  seen  so  unfortunate  and  languishing.  "  It  is 
because  then  the  father  of  the  family  was  not  here" 
said  Henry  to  him  ;  "  now  that  he  takes  care  of  his 
children,  they  prosper" —  Voltaire. 

Projects  of  the  King. — France  had  become  the 


MODERN    HISTORY,  263 

arbiter  of  Europe.  Owing  to  her  powerful  medi- 
ation, the  pope  and  Venice  had  been  reconciled 
(1607) ;  Spain  and  the  United  Provinces  had  at 
last  ended  their  long  conflict  (1609-1621) ;  Hen- 
ry IV.  went  to  humble  the  house  of  Austria  ;  if 
we  believe  his  minister,  he  designed  to  establish  a 
perpetual  peace,  and  to  substitute  law  in  place  of 
that  state  of  nature  which  still  obtained  among  the 
members  of  the  great  European  family.  All  was 
ready  :  a  numerous  army,  provisions  of  all  kinds, 
the  most  formidable  artillery  of  the  world,  and  for- 
ty-two millions  in  the  vaults  of  the  Bastile.  A  blow 
from  a  dagger  saved  Austria.  The  people  suspect- 
ed the  emperor,  the  King  of  Spain,  the  Queen  of 
France,  the  Duke  of  Epernon,  the  Jesuits.  All  prof- 
ited by  the  crime,  but  the  fanaticism  which  pur- 
sued during  all  his  reign  a  prince  who  was  always 
suspected  of  being  a  Protestant  at  heart,  and  who 
wished  to  make  his  religion  triumph  in  Europe,  is 
sufficient  to  explain  it.  The  blow  had  been  at- 
tempted seventeen  times  before  Ravaillac. 

His  Death  (1610).-—"  Friday,  the  14th  of  May, 
1610,  a  solemn  and  fatal  day  for  France,  the  king,  at 
6  o'clock  A.M.,  heard  mass  at  the  Feuillants  ;  on 
returning  he  retired  to  his  cabinet,  where  the  Duke 
of  Vendome,  his  natural  son,  whom  he  loved  much, 
came  to  tell  him  that  La  Brosse,  who  professed  as- 
trology, had  said  to  him  that  the  constellation  under 


264  SUMMARY   OF 

which  his  majesty  had  been  born  threatened  him 
with  great  danger  this  very  day ;  therefore  he 
advised  him  to  take  care  of  himself.  To  this  the 
king  replied,  laughing,  to  M.  de  Vendome,  '  La 
Brosse  is  an  old  rogue,  who  desires  to  have  your 
money,  and  you  are  a  young  fool  to  believe  him. 
Our  days  are  numbered  by  God.'  The  duke  then 
told  the  queen  of  the  same  prediction,  who  begged 
the  king  not  to  leave  the  Louvre  for  the  rest  of  the 
day ;  to  her  he  made  the  same  reply.  After  din- 
ner the  king  laid  down  on  his  bed  to  sleep,  but  not 
being  able  to  do  so,  he  arose  sad,  disquieted,  and 
thoughtful,  and,  after  walking  in  his  chamber  for 
some  time,  he  threw  himself  again  on  the  bed. 
But  still  not  being  able  to  sleep,  he  arose  and  ask- 
ed one  of  his  life-guards  what  time  it  was.  He  re- 
plied that  it  was  four  o'clock,  and  said,  '  Sir,  I  see 
your  majesty  sad  and  pensive ;  it  would  be  better 
to  take  a  little  air ;  this  would  revive  you.'  '  That's 
well  said  :  have  my  carriage  prepared  :  I  will  go  to 
the  arsenal,  to  the  Duke  of  Sully,  who  is  indispo- 
sed, and  who  takes  a  bath  to-day.' 

"  The  carriage  being  ready,  he  left  the  Louvre, 
accompanied  by  the  Duke  of  Montbazon,  the  Duke 
of  Epernon,  the  Marshal  of  Lavardin,  Roquelaure, 
La  Force,  Mirabeau,  and  Liancourt,  who  was  the 
first  equerry.  At  the  same  time  he  charged  M.  de 
Vitry,  captain  of  his  guards,  to  go  to  the  palace  and 
hasten  the  preparations  for  the  entrance  of  the 


MODERN    HISTORY.  265 

queen,  and  he  ordered  his  guards  to  remain  at  the 
Louvre.  Thus  the  king  was  only  followed  by  a 
small  number  of  gentlemen  on  horseback  and  some 
footmen.  The  carriage  was,  unluckily,  open  on  all 
sides,  as  it  was  fine  weather,  and  the  king  wished 
to  see  the  preparations  which  were  making  in  the 
city.  His  carriage  passing  from  the  street  St. 
Honore  into  that  of  Ferronnerie,  found  on  the  one 
side  a  cart  laden  with  wine,  on  the  other  a  wagon 
with  hay,  which  caused  a  confusion  ;  he  was 
obliged  to  stop.  The  street  is  very  narrow,  caused 
by  the  shops  which  are  built  against  the  wall  of 
the  graveyard  of  St.  Innocents'. 

"  In  this  embarrassment,  the  greater  number  of 
the  footmen  went  into  the  graveyard,  to  run  more 
at  their  ease,  and  to  go  before  the  carriage  of  the 
king  at  the  head  of  the  street.  Of  the  only  two 
valets  who  had  followed  the  carriage,  one  advan- 
ced to  remove  this  obstacle,  and  the  other  stoop- 
ed to  tie  his  garter,  when  a  wretch,  a  demon  from 
the  infernal  regions,  named  Francis  Ravaillac,  a 
native  of  Angouleme,  who  had  time,  during  the  em- 
barrassment, to  see  on  which  side  the  king  was 
seated,  stepped  on  the  wheel  of  the  carriage,  and, 
with  a  knife  sharpened  on  both  edges,  struck  him 
a  blow  between  the  second  and  third  ribs,  a  little 
below  the  heart,  which  made  the  king  exclaim,  *  I 
am  wounded !'  But  the  wretch,  without  being 
Z 


266  SUMMARY  OF 

frightened,  repeated  the  blow,  and  struck  him  a 
second  time  in  the  heart  with  such  force  that  the 
king  could  only  heave  a  heavy  sigh,  and  die. 
This  second  blow  was  followed  by  a  third,  so  much 
was  the  parricide  exasperated  towards  his  king  ; 
but  it  only  touched  the  sleeve  of  the  Duke  of  Mont- 
bazon. 

"  Amazing  thing !  none  of  the  gentlemen  who 
were  in  the  carriage  saw  the  king  struck  ;  and  if 
this  monster  of  the  infernal  regions  had  thrown 
away  his  sword,  no  one  would  have  known  from 
whence  the  blow  came  ;  but  he  remained  there,  as 
if  to  show  himself,  and  to  glory  in  being  the  great- 
est of  assassins."* 


CHAPTER  XL 

REVOLUTION    OF    ENGLAND,   1603-1 649.J 

James  I.,  1603.  —  Charles  I.,  1625.  — War  against  France,  1627.  — The 
King  tries  to  govern  without  a  Parliament,  1630-1638. — Trial  of  Hamp- 
den,  1636.— Covenant  of  Scotland,  1638.— Long  Parliament,  1640.— 
Commencement  of  the  Civil  War,  1642. —  Covenant  of  England  and 
Scotland,  1643.  —  Success  of  the  Parliament.  — The  Power  passes  to 
the  Independents.  —  Cromwell.  —  The  King  gives  himself  up  to  the 
Scots,  who  betray  him,  1645.  —  Revolution  and  Predominance  of  the 
Army.  —  Trial  and  Execution  of  Charles  I.  —  Overthrow  of  the  Mon- 
archy, 1649. 

James  I.,  1603.  —  When  James  I.  succeeded 

*  L'Etoile,  part  xlviii.,  p.  447-450. 

t  If  this  chapter  presents  any  interest,  we  are  indebted  for  it  to  the 


MODERN    HISTORY.  267 

Elizabeth,  the  long  reign  of  this  princess  had 
somewhat  wearied  the  enthusiasm  and  submissive 
spirit  of  the  nation.  The  character  of  the  new 
prince  was  not  calculated  to  change  this  disposition. 
England  beheld  with  evil  eye  a  Scottish  king,  sur- 
rounded by  Scotchmen,  belonging,  on  the  side  of 
his  mother,  to  the  house  of  Guise,  more  versed  in 
theology  than  in  politics,*  arid  who  turned  pale  at 
the  sight  of  a  sword.  He  displeased  the  English 
in  everything,  as  well  by  his  imprudent  procla- 
mations in  favour  of  the  Divine  right  of  kings,  as 
by  his  project  to  unite  England  and  Scotland,  and 
his  toleration  towards  the  Catholics,  who  con- 
spired against  him  (Gunpowder  Plot,  1605).  On 
the  other  hand,  the  Scotch  saw  with  no  greater 
satisfaction  his  attempts  to  subject  them  to  the  Eng- 
lish Church.  James,  entirely  devoted  to  his  fa- 
vourites, made  himself,  by  his  prodigality,  depend- 
ant on  the  Parliament,  at  the  same  time  that  he  irri- 
tated it  by  the  contrast  between  his  pretensions  and 
his  weakness. 

It  had  been  the  glory  of  Elizabeth  to  elevate  the 
nation  in  its  own  eyes  ;  the  misfortune  of  the  Stu- 
arts was  to  humble  it.  James  abandoned  the  title 

works  of  Messrs.  Guizot  and  Villemain,  from  which  we  have  made  ex- 
tracts, and  have  often  copied.  We  have  also  drawn  some  precious  in- 
formation from  the  works  of  M.  Mazure,  although  the  object  of  his  work 
is  generally  foreign  to  that  of  this  chapter.—  History  of  the  Revolution, 
1688. 

*  Henry  IV.  called  him  Maltre  Jacques. 


268  SUMMARY    OF 

of  adversary  of  Spain  and  chief  of  the  Protestants 
in  Europe.  He  did  not  declare  war  against  Spain 
till  1625,  and  then  in  spite  of  himself.  He  had 
his  son  married  to  a  Catholic  princess  (Henrietta 
of  France). 

Charles  /.,  1625. — At  the  accession  of  Charles 
I.  (1625),  the  king  and  people  knew  not  them- 
selves to  what  degree  they  were  already  estranged 
from  each  other.  While  the  monarchical  power 
triumphed  on  the  Continent,  the  English  Commons 
had  acquired  an  importance  inconsistent  with  the 
ancient  system  of  government.  Under  the  Tudors, 
the  humiliation  of  the  aristocracy,  the  division  of  es- 
tates, the  sale  of  the  ecclesiastical  property,  had  both 
enriched  the  people  and  given  them  confidence  in 
their  own  strength.  They  sought  political  guaran- 
tees. The  institutions  which  might  have  afforded 
these  guarantees  existed  already ;  they  had  been 
respected  by  the  Tudors,  who  made  an  instrument 
of  them.  But  a  motive  as  powerful  as  religious 
interest  was  necessary  to  give  life  to  those  institu- 
tions. The  Presbyterian  reformation,  an  enemy 
to  the  Anglical  reformation,  found  the  throne  stand- 
ing between  herself  and  episcopacy.  The  throne 
was  attacked. 

Petition  of  Right. — The  first  Parliament  sought 
to  obtain,  by  the  delay  of  subsidies,  the  redress 
of  public  grievances  (1625).  The  second  accused 


MODERN    HISTORY.  269 

the  Duke  of  Buckingham  (the  favourite  of  the 
king)  as  their  author  (1626).  During  these  two 
assemblies,  the  unfortunate  wars  of  Spain  and 
France  took  from  the  government  what  popularity 
it  yet  possessed.  The  second  war  had  been  under- 
taken to  aid  the  Protestants,  and  to  deliver  La  Ro- 
chelle  (the  misfortune  of  Buckingham  at  the  Isle 
of  Rhe,  1627).  The  third  Parliament,  waiving  all 
minor  contests,  demanded,  in  the  Petition  of  Right, 
an  explicit  sanction  of  those  public  liberties  which 
were  to  be  acknowledged  sixty  years  after  in  the 
Declaration  or  Bill  of  Rights.  Charles,  seeing  all 
his  demands  rejected,  made  peace  with  France  and 
Spain,  and  tried  to  govern  without  calling  the  Par- 
liament (1630-1638). 

Strafford  and  Laud. — He  anticipated  no  farther 
resistance.  His  only  difficulty  was  to  reconcile 
both  parties  who  disputed  for  the  ascendency,  the 
queen  and  the  ministers,  the  court  and  the  council. 
The  Earl  of  Strafford  and  Archbishop  Laud,  who 
wished  to  govern,  at  least  in  the  general  interest 
of  the  king,  were  precipitated  into  very  many  vio- 
lent and  vexatious  measures.  The  monopoly  of 
the  greater  part  of  provisions  was  sold,  illegal  du- 
ties were  sustained  by  servile  judges,  and  by  tribu- 
nals of  exception.  Unheard-of  fines  were  the  pun- 
ishment of  most  offences.  The  government,  badly 
supported  by  the  proud  aristocracy,  had  recourse 
Z  2 


270  SUMMARY   OF 

to  the  English  clergy,  who  usurped,  by  degrees, 
the  civil  power.  The  Nonconformists  were  perse- 
cuted. A  great  number  of  men,  who  could  no  longer 
support  so  odious  a  government,  went  to  America. 
At  the  moment  when  an  order  of  the  council  for- 
bade the  emigrations,  eight  vessels,  ready  to  depart, 
lay  at  anchor  in  the  Thames  ;  in  one  of  them  Pym, 
Hampden,  and  Cromwell  were  already  embarked. 
Trial  of  Hampden — Long  Parliament  (1640). — 
The  public  indignation  burst  forth  on  the  occasion 
of  the  trial  of  Hampden.  This  gentleman  prefer- 
red being  imprisoned  to  paying  an  illegal  tax  of 
twenty  shillings.  One  month  after  his  condemna- 
tion, the  Bishop  of  Edinburgh  having  tried  to  in- 
troduce the  new  English  liturgy,  a  frightful  tumult 
broke  out  in  the  Cathedral ;  the  bishop  was  insult- 
ed, arid  the  magistrates  were  chased  by  the  popu- 
lace. The  Scotch  engaged  by  oath  in  a  covenant, 
by  which  they  bound  themselves  to  defend  the 
sovereign,  the  religion,  the  laws,  and  the  liberties 
of  the  country  against  all  danger.  Messengers, 
who  repaired  from  village  to  village,  carried  it  to 
the  most  remote  parts  of  the  country,  as  the  fiery 
cross  was  carried  into  the  mountains,  to  call  to  war 
the  vassals  of  a  lord.  The  Covenanters  received 
arms  and  money  from  the  Cardinal  Richelieu,  and 
the  English  army  having  refused  to  fight  against 
their  brothers,  the  king  was  obliged  to  place  him  • 


MODERN    HISTORY.  271 

self  at  the  discretion  of  a  fifth  Parliament  (Long 
Parliament,  1640). 

Civil  War  (1642). — This  new  assembly,  having 
so  much  to  revenge,  implacably  prosecuted  all  those 
who  were  styled  delinquents,  Strafford  especially, 
who  had  irritated  the  nation,  less  by  actual  crimes, 
than  by  the  violence  of  an  imperious  temper. 
Strafford  himself  entreated  the  king  to  sign  the 
bill  of  his  condemnation,  and  Charles  had  the 
deplorable  weakness  to  consent.  The  Parliament 
took  possession  of  the  government,  directed  the 
employment  of  the  subsidies,  reformed  the  decis- 
ions of  the  tribunals,  and  disarmed  the  royal  author- 
ity by  proclaiming  itself  indissoluble.  The  dread- 
ful massacre  of  the  Protestants  of  Ireland  gave  to 
Parliament  an  opportunity  to  seize  the  military 
power ;  the  Irish  Catholics  had  risen  against  the 
English  who  were  established  among  them,  and 
everywhere  attacked  their  tyrants,  mocking  the 
queen,  and  displaying  a  false  commission  of  the 
king.  Charles,  driven  to  extremity  by  a  threaten- 
ing remonstrance,  went  in  person  to  the  House  to 
arrest  five  of  the  members.  He  failed  in  this  great 
stroke  of  policy,  and  left  London  to  commence  the 
civil  war  (January  llth,  1642). 

The  Parliament  party  had  the  advantage  of  en- 
thusiasm and  of  numbers  :  it  had  the  capital,  the 
great  cities,  the  ports,  the  fleet.  The  king  had  the 


272  SUMMARY    OF 

majority  of  the  nobility,  more  skilled  in  arms  than 
the  Parliamentary  troops.  In  the  counties  of  the 
north  and  west  the  Royalists  ruled,  the  Parliament 
in  those  of  the  east,  in  the  middle  and  southeast, 
the  most  populous  and  richest.  These  latter  coun- 
ties, joining  each  other,  formed  a  circle  around 
London. 

Edge  Hill — Newbury,  1643. — Marston  Moor. — 
The  king  soon  marched  towards  the  capital,  but 
the  indecisive  battle  of  Edge  Hill  saved  the  adhe- 
rents of  the  Parliament.  They  had  time  to  orga- 
nize themselves.  Colonel  Cromwell  formed  in  the 
counties  of  the  east  volunteer  squadrons,  who  op- 
posed religious  enthusiasm  to  the  sentiments  of 
honour  which  animated  the  cavaliers.  The  Par- 
liament was  again  successful  at  Newbury,  and  uni- 
ted itself  with  Scotland  by  a  solemn  covenant  (1643). 
The  good  understanding  of  the  king  with  the  High- 
landers of  the  north  and  the  Irish  Catholics  accel- 
erated this  unexpected  union  of  two  people  who, 
until  then,  were  enemies.  It  is  said  that  a  great 
number  of  Irish  papists,  called  by  the  king,  were 
mixed  with  the  troops  from  their  island ;  and  that 
even  women,  armed  with  long  knives,  and  in  a 
savage  dress,  had  been  seen  within  their  ranks. 
This  Parliament  would  not  receive  the  letters  of 
that  which  the  king  had  convoked  at  Oxford,  and 
pushed  on  the  war  with  new  vigour.  Enthusiasm 


MODERN    HISTORY.  273 

had  carried  some  families  so  far  as  to  deprive  them- 
selves of  one  repast  a  week,  to  offer  its  value  to 
the  Parliament ;  an  ordinance  converted  this  offer- 
ing into  an  obligatory  tax  for  all  the  inhabitants  of 
London  and  the  adjacent  parts.  The  nephew  of 
the  king,  Prince  Rupert,  was  defeated  at  Marston 
Moor,  after  a  bloody  battle,  by  the  invincible  stub- 
bornness of  the  saints  of  the  Parliamentary  army, 
the  cavaliers  of  Cromwell,  who  received  on  the 
field  of  battle  the  surname  of  Ironsides.  They 
would  have  been  able  to  send  to  the  Parliament 
more  than  one  hundred  standards  of  the  enemy, 
if,  in  their  enthusiasm,  they  had  not  torn  them  in 
pieces  to  ornament  their  caps  and  their  arms  with 
them.  The  king  lost  York  and  all  the  north.  The 
queen  saved  herself  in  France  (1664). 

Second  Battle  of  Newlury. — This  disaster  seem- 
ed, for  an  instant,  repaired.  The  king  had  obliged 
the  Earl  of  Essex,  general  of  the  Parliament,  to 
capitulate  in  the  county  of  Cornwall.  The  Irish 
bands  had  landed  in  Scotland,  and  Montrose,  one 
of  the  bravest  cavaliers,  having  appeared  suddenly 
in  their  camp  in  the  dress  of  a  Highlander,  had 
gained  two  battles,  raised  the  clans  of  the  north, 
and  spread  terror  even  to  the  gates  of  Edinburgh. 
Already  the  king  marched  towards  London  ;  the 
people  closed  their  shops,  fasted  and  prayed,  when 
they  heard  that  he  had  been  defeated  at  Newbury 


274  SUMMARY    OF 

(for  the  second  time).  The  Parliamentary  troops 
had  performed  wonders  ;  at  sight  of  the  cannons, 
which  they  had  but  lately  lost  in  the  county  of 
Cornwall,  they  threw  themselves  upon  the  royal 
batteries,  seized  their  own  pieces,  and  carried  them 
away,  embracing  them  with  joy. 

Act  of  Renunciation. — At  this  time  a  misunder- 
standing broke  out  among  the  conquerors.  The 
power  escaped  from  the  Presbyterians  to  pass  to 
the  Independents.  This  latter  party  was  a  mix- 
ture of  enthusiasts,  philosophers,  and  libertines ; 
but  it  drew  its  unity  from  one  principle,  the  right 
to  freedom  of  conscience.  Notwithstanding  their 
crimes  and  their  reveries,  this  principle  ought  to 
have  given  them  victory  over  adversaries  less  en- 
ergetic and  less  consistent.  While  the  Presbyte- 
rians believed  that  they  were  preparing  peace  by 
vain  negotiations  with  the  king,  the  Independents 
placed  themselves  at  the  head  of  the  war.  Crom- 
well declares  that  those  in  power  prolonged  it  de- 
signedly, and  the  Parliament,  through  disinterested 
motives,  or  through  fear  of  losing  its  popularity, 
decided*  that  every  one  should  renounce  Ms  own 
advancement,  and  that  the  members  of  the  Parlia- 
ment should  no  more  hold  any  civil  or  military  of- 
fice. 

Naseby — The  King  given  up  to  the  English. — 

*  By  what  was  called  the  Self-denying  Ordinance. 


MODERN    HISTORY.  275 

Cromwell  found  means,  by  new  success,  to  exempt 
himself  from  the  common  rule,  and  the  Independ- 
ents overthrew  the  royal  army  at  Naseby,  near 
Northampton.  The  papers  of  the  king,  found  after 
the  victory,  and  publicly  read  at  London,  proved 
that,  notwithstanding  his  protestations,  repeated  a 
thousand  times,  he  had  called  for  the  aid  of  for- 
eigners, especially  of  the  Irish  Catholics.  In  the 
mean  time,  Montrose,  abandoned  by  the  Highland- 
ers, who  went  to  hide  their  booty  at  home,  had 
been  surprised  and  defeated.  Prince  Rupert, 
known  until  then  by  his  impetuous  courage,  had 
given  up  Bristol  at  the  first  summons.  The  king 
wandered  for  a  long  time  from  city  to  city,  from 
castle  to  castle,  constantly  changing  his  disguise ; 
he  stopped  at  Harrow-on-the-Hill,  hesitating  to  en- 
ter the  capital,  which  he  saw  at  a  distance.  Fi- 
nally, he  retired,  from  fatigue  more  than  choice,  to 
the  camp  of  the  Scotch,  where  the  resident  minis- 
ter of  France  had  given  him  hope  of  finding  an 
asylum,  and  where  he  soon  perceived  that  he  was 
a  prisoner.  His  hosts  spared  not  their  outrages  to- 
wards him.  A  Scotch  clergyman,  preaching  be- 
fore him  at  Newcastle,  gave  out  to  the  congrega- 
tion the  52d  Psalm,  which  commences,  "  Why 
boastest  thou  thyself,  thou  tyrant,  that  thou  canst 
do  mischief?"  The  king,  suddenly  rising,  sung, 
"  Be  merciful  unto  me,  0  God,  for  man  goeth 


276  SUMMARY    OF 

about  to  devour  me  ;  he  is  daily  fighting  and  troub- 
ling me.  Mine  enemies  are  daily  on  hand  to  swal- 
low me  up ;  for  they  be  many  that  fight  against 
me  ;"  and,  from  a  sudden  transport,  the  whole  con- 
gregation joined  him.  But  the  Scotch,  despairing 
of  making  him  accept  the  covenant,  gave  him  up 
to  tire  English,  who  offered  to  pay  the  expenses 
of  the  war. 

The  unfortunate  prince  was  but  an  instrument 
for  which"  the  Independents  and  Presbyterians  dis- 
puted until  they  destroyed  it.  The  misunderstand- 
ing was  at  its  height  between  the  army  and  Parlia- 
ment. They  took  the  king  from  the  place  where 
the  commissioners  of  the  latter  guarded  him,  and, 
without  receiving  the  orders  of  the  chief  general, 
Fairfax,  Cromwell  had  him  led  to  the  army. 

Cromwell. — In  the  mean  time  a  reaction  in  fa- 
vour of  the  king  took  place.  Bands  of  citizens 
and  apprentices,  half-pay  officers,  and  marines 
forced  the  gates  of  Westminster,  and  constrained 
the  chamber  to  vote  for  the  return  of  the  king. 
But  sixty  members  fled  to  the  army,  which  march- 
ed towards  London.  Its  entrance  into  the  capital 
was  the  triumph  of  the  Independents.  Cromwell, 
seeing  the  Presbyterians  eclipsed,  fearing  for  his 
own  party,  hesitated  for  a  moment  if  he  should  not 
work  for  the  re-establishment  of  the  king.  But, 
knowing  well  that  he  could  not  in  any  way  se- 


MODERN    HISTORY.  277 

cure  this  prince's  confidence,  he  began  to  aim 
higher,  and  thought  of  withdrawing  the  king  from 
the  army,  as  he  had  taken  him  from  the  Parlia- 
ment. Charles,  alarmed  by  menacing  intelligence, 
escaped,  and  went  to  the  Isle  of  Wight,  where  he 
found  himself  in  the  power  of  Cromwell. 

The  Levellers. — The  ruin  of  the  king  was  the 
seal  of  reconciliation  between  Cromwell  and  the 
Republicans.  He  had  been  obliged  to  repress  the 
anarchical  faction  of  the  Levellers  in  the  army  ; 
he  had  seized  one  of  them  in  the  midst  of  a  regi- 
ment, and  had  him  condemned  and  executed  on 
the  spot,  in  the  presence  of  the  army ;  but  he  was 
careful  not  to  be  always  at  variance  with  a  party 
so  energetic. 

Condemnation  of  the  King,  1649. — He  regained 
them  by  beating  the  Scotch,  whose  army  came  to 
second  the  reaction  in  favour  of  the  king.  The 
Parliament  of  England,  alarmed  by  a  victory  so 
prompt,  which  must  turn  to  the  profit  of  the  Inde- 
pendents, hastened  to  negotiate  anew  with  the 
king.  While  Charles  was  disputing  with  the 
deputies  of  Parliament,  and  repulsing  with  probity 
the  means  of  escape  which  his  servants  prepa- 
red for  him,  the  army  removed  him  from  the  Isle 
of  Wight,  and  purged  the  Parliament.  Colonel 
Pride,  with  the  list  of  the  proscribed  members  in 
his  hand,  occupied  the  gate  of  the  Commons  at  the 
AA 


278  SUMMARY    OF 

head  of  two  regiments,  and  repulsed  with  violence 
and  insult  those  who  persisted  in  claiming  their 
rights.  From  the  time  that  the  party  of  the  Inde- 
pendents had  gained  the  ascendency  the  enthusi- 
asm of  the  fanatics  was  at  its  height.  The  king 
was  put  on  trial  before  a  commission  over  which 
John  Bradshaw,  a  cousin  of  Milton,  presided. 
Notwithstanding  the  opposition  of  most  of  the  mem- 
bers, and,  among  the  rest,  of  the  young  and  virtuous 
Sidney ;  notwithstanding  the  challenge  of  Charles, 
who  maintained  that  the  Commons  could  not  exer- 
cise a  parliamentary  authority  without  the  concur- 
rence of  the  king  and  lords  ;  notwithstanding  the 
mediation  of  the  Scotch  commissioners,  and  the 
ambassadors  of  the  States-General  of  the  Nether- 
lands, the  king  was  condemned  to  death.  At  the 
moment  when  the  judge  pronounced  the  name  of 
Charles  Stuart,  Ir  ought  to  answer  a  charge  of 
treason,  and  other  great  crimes  presented  against 

him  in  the  name  of  the  people  of  England 

"  Not  by  one  half  of  the  people"  cried  a  voice. 
"  Where  are  the  people  1  where  is  its  consent  ?  Ol- 
iver Cromwell  is  a  traitor  /" 

The  whole  assembly  quickly  rose,  all  eyes  turn- 
ed towards  the  gallery  :  "  Down  with  the  women  /" 
cried  Colonel  Axtel :  "  Soldiers,  fire  upon  them  /" 
They  recognised  Lady  Fairfax. 
After  the  sentence,  they  refused  to  hear  the 


MODERN    HISTORY.  279 

king.  They  dragged  him  out  amid  the  insults 
of  the  soldiers,  and  cries  of  "Justice!  Execu- 
tion  /"  When  it  was  necessary  to  sign  the  order 
for  his  death,  they  had  great  trouble  to  assemble 
the  commissioners.  Cromwell,  almost  the  only 
one  gay,  bustling,  bold,  gave  way  to  the  most  vio- 
lent fits  of  his  accustomed  buffoonery ;  after  hav- 
ing signed  as  the  third,  he  daubed  the  ink  in  the 
face  of  Henry  Martyn,  who  was  seated  near  him, 
and  who  instantly  returned  it.  Colonel  Ingoldsby, 
his  cousin,  whose  name  was  among  the  judges, 
but  who  had  not  set  in  the  court  during  the  trial, 
by  accident  entered  the  hall.  "  This  time,"  cried 
Cromwell,  "  he  will  not  escape  us  ;"  and  seizing 
Ingoldsby  with  loud  bursts  of  laughter,  aided  by- 
some  members  who  were  there,  he  placed  the  pen 
between  his  fingers,  and,  guiding  his  hand,  forced 
him  to  sign.  Finally,  they  collected  fifty-nine  signa- 
tures, several  names  scratched  in  such  a  manner, 
either  designedly,  or  from  agitation  of  mind,  that  it 
was  hardly  possible  to  decipher  them.** 

Execution  of  Charles  I.,  1648.-— The  scaffold 
was  erected  against  a  window  of  Whitehall.  The 
king,  after  having  blessed  his  children,  went  there, 
his  head  raised,  with  firm  step,  walking  before  his 
soldiers,  who  escorted  him.  Many  people  soaked 
their  handkerchiefs  in  his  blood.  Cromwell  wished 

*  Guizot. 


280  SUMMARY    OF 

to  see  the  body,  already  placed  in  the  coffin ;  he 
looked  at  it  attentively,  and  raising  its  head  with 
his  hands,  as  if  to  assure  himself  that  it  was  well 
severed  from  the  body,  said,  "  There  was  a  body 
well  built,  and  that  promised  a  long  life." 

The  House  of  Lords  was  abolished  the  year 
after.  A  great  seal  was  engraved,  with  this  motto  : 
The  first  year  of  liberty  restored  by  the  blessing  of 
God,  1648.* 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE    THIRTY    YEARS*  WAR,  1618-48. 

Maximilian  II.,  1564-1576.— Rodolph  II.,  1576-1612.— Mathias  Emperor, 
1612-1619. — Insurrection  of  Bohemia. — Commencement  of  the  Thirty 
Years'  War.  —  Palatine  Period,  1619-1623:  Ferdinand  II. —War 
against  the  Protestants,  Bohemia,  the  Palatinate. — Triumph  of  Ferdi- 
nand.—  Danish  Period,  1625-1629:  League  of  the  States  of  Lower 
Saxony.— Success  of  Tilly  and  Waldstein. — Intercession  of  Denmark 
and  Sweden.  —  Swedish  Period,  1630-1635. :  Gustavus  Adolphus  in- 
vades the  Empire.— Battle  of  Leipzig,  1631.  —  Invasion  of  Bavaria. — 
Battle  of  Lutzen  ;  Death  of  Gustavus  Adolphus,  1632.  —  Assassina- 
tion of  Waldstein,  1634.  —  Peace  of  Prague,  1635.  —  French  Period, 
1635-1648 :  Ministry  of  Richelieu,  &c.,  &e.— Battle  of  the  Dunes,  1640. 
—Battle  of  Leipzig,  1642 ;  of  Friburg,  Norlingen,  Sens,  1644,  1645, 
1648,  &c.,  &c.— Treaty  of  Westphalia,  1648. 

THE  Thirty  Years'  War  is  the  last  conflict  sus- 
tained by  the  Reformation.  This  war,  indetermi- 
nate in  its  march  and  its  object,  is  composed  of 

*  Old  style.    This  date  corresponds  to  February  9,  1649, 


MODERN   HISTORY.  281 

four  distinct  wars,  wherein  the  Elector  of  Palatine, 
Denmark,  Sweden,  and  France,  successively  play 
the  principal  part.  It  becomes  more  and  more 
complicated,  until  it  embraces  all  Europe.  Sev- 
eral causes  prolong  it  indefinitely  :  first,  the  close 
union  of  both  branches  of  the  house  of  Austria 
and  the  Catholic  party;  the  opposite  party  is  not 
homogeneous  ;  second,  the  inaction  of  England, 
the  tardy  mediation  of  France,  the  weakness  of 
Denmark  and  Sweden. 

The  armies  which  carried  on  the  Thirty  Years' 
War  were  no  longer  feudal  militia ;  they  were  stand- 
ing armies,  but  armies  which  the  sovereigns  could 
not  maintain  (see,  above,  the  armies  of  Charles 
V.,  in  the  wars  of  Italy).  They  lived  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  country,  and  ruined  it.  The  ruined 
peasant  became  a  soldier,  and  sold  himself  to  the 
first  comer.  The  war  prolonging  itself,  thus  form- 
ed armies  without  a  country,  an  immense  military 
force,  which  floats  in  Germany,  and  encourages 
the  most  gigantic  projects  of  princes,  and  of  pri- 
vate individuals  even. 

Germany  again  becomes  the  centre  of  European 
politics.  The  first  contest  of  the  Reformation 
with  the  house  of  Austria  was  renewed,  after  sixty 
years'  interruption  ;  all  the  powers  took  part  in  it. 

Results. — Europe  seems  as  if  it  must  be  over- 
thrown, and  yet  we  perceive  but  one  important 
A  A2 


282  SUMMARY    OP 

change  ;  France  had  succeeded  to  the  supremacy 
of  the  house  of  Austria.  The  influence  of  the 
Reformation  will  no  longer  be  sensible,  and  the 
treaty  of  Westphalia  commences  a  new  world. 

Maximilian  II. — Rudolph  II. — Whether  from 
fear  of  the  Turks,  or  from  the  personal  moderation 
of  the  princes,  the  German  branch  of  the  house  of 
Austria,  in  the  second  part  of  the  sixteenth  centu- 
ry, followed  a  policy  entirely  opposite  to  that  of 
Philip  II.  The  tolerant  policy  of  Ferdinand  I. 
and  Maximilian  II.  favoured  the  progress  of  Prot- 
estantism in  Austria,  Bohemia,  and  Hungary ; 
they  even  suspected  Maximilian  to  be  Protestant 
at  heart  (1555-1576).  The  feeble  Rudolph  II., 
who  succeeded  him,  had  neither  his  moderation 
nor  his  ability.  While  he  shut  himself  up  with 
Tycho  Brahe,  to  study  astrology  and  alchymy,  the 
Protestants  of  Hungary,  Bohemia,  and  Austria 
made  one  common  cause.  The  Archduke  Mathi- 
as,  brother  of  Rudolph,  favoured  them,  and  forced 
the  emperor  to  yield  Austria  and  Hungary  to  him 
(1607-1609). 

Succession  of  Juliers. — The  Empire  was  not  less 
agitated  than  the  hereditary  states  of  the  house  of 
Austria.  Aix-la-Chapelle  and  Donawerth,  where 
the  Protestants  had  made  themselves  masters,  were 
put  under  the  ban  of  the  Empire.  The  archbish- 
op, Elector  of  Cologne,  who  wished  to  secularize 


MODERN    HISTORY.  283 

his  states,  was  deposed.  The  reopening  of  the 
succession  of  Cleves  and  Juliers  again  complica- 
ted the  situation  of  Germany.  Protestant  and 
Catholic  princes,  the  Elector  of  Brandenburgh,  the 
Duke  of  Deux-Ponts,  and  others,  claimed  it  equal- 
ly. The  Empire  divided  itself  into  two  leagues. 
Henry  IV.,  who  favoured  the  Protestants,  intended 
to  enter  Germany,  and  to  avail  himself  of  this  state 
of  things  to  humble  the  house  of  Austria,  when  he 
was  assassinated  (1610).  Instead  of  being  defer- 
red, the  Thirty  Years'  War  only  became  more  terri- 
ble. 

Mathias,  Emperor — Battle  of  Prague,  1621. 
— Mathias,  after  having  forced  Rudolph  to  yield 
Bohemia  to  him,  succeeded  him  in  the  Empire 
(1612-19),  and  also  in  all  the  embarrassments  of 
his  position.  The  Spaniards  and  Dutch  invaded 
the  dukedoms  of  Cleves  and  Juliers.  The  Bo- 
hemians, conducted  by  the  Count  of  Turn,  rose  for 
the  defence  of  their  religion.  Turn,  at  the  head 
of  a  part  of  the  States,  repaired  to  the  council- 
room,  and  precipitated  the  four  gouverneurs  into 
the  ditches  of  the  castle  of  Prague  (1618).  The 
Bohemians  pretended  it  to  be  an  ancient  custom  of 
their  country  to  throw  double-dealing  ministers  out 
of  the  window.  They  levied  troops,  and,  not  wish- 
ing to  acknowledge  as  successor  to  Mathias  a 
pupil  of  the  Jesuits,  Ferdinand  II.,  they  gave  the 


284  SUMMARY    OF 

crown  to  Frederic  V.,  elector  of  Palatine,  son-in- 
law  of  the  King  of  England,  and  nephew  of  the 
Stadtholder  of  Holland. 

Palatine  Period  of  the  Thirty  Years9  War, 
1619-23. — At  the  same  time,  the  Hungarians 
elected  the  Waiwode  of  Transylvania,  Betlem  Ga- 
bor,  for  king.  Ferdinand,  who  was  besieged  for 
a  short  time  by  the  Bohemians  in  Vienna,  was 
supported  by  the  Duke  of  Bavaria,  by  the  Catholic 
league  of  Germany,  and  by  the  Spaniards.  Fred- 
eric, who  was  a  Calvinist,  was.  abandoned  by  the 
Lutheran  union.  James  I.,  his  father-in-law,  was 
satisfied  with  negotiating  for  him.  Attacked  in 
the  capital  of  Bohemia  itself,  he  lost  the  battle  of 
Prague  by  his  negligence  or  his  cowardice.  He 
dined  tranquilly  at  the  castle,  while  his  subjects 
died  for  him  in  the  field  (1621).  Notwithstanding 
the  valour  of  Mansfield,  and  other  partisans  who 
ravaged  Germany  in  his  name,  still  he  was  driven 
from  the  Palatinate  ;  the  Protestant  union  was  dis- 
solved, and  the  electoral  dignity  transferred  to  the 
Duke  of  Bavaria. 

Waldstein— Danish  Period,  1625-1629.— The 
States  of  Lower  Saxony,  threatened  by  an  ap- 
proaching restitution  of  ecclesiastical  property, 
called  the  princes  of  the  North,  who  were  united 
to  them  by  community  of  religious  interest,  to  the 
aid  of  Germany.  The  young  King  of  Sweden, 


MODERN    HISTORY.  285 

Gustavus  Adolphus,  was  at  that  time  occupied  in  a 
glorious  war  against  Poland,  the  ally  of  Austria. 
The  King  of  Denmark,  Christian  IV.,  undertook 
their  defence.  At  the  approach  of  this  new  war, 
Ferdinand  would  not  depend  on  the  Catholic  league, 
of  which  the  Duke  of  Bavaria  was  the  chief,  and 
of  which  the  celebrated  Tilly  commanded  the 
troops.  The  Count  of  Waldstein,*  officer  of  the 
emperor,  offered  to  form  him  an  army,  provided  he 
was  permitted  to  enrol  fifty  thousand  men.  He 
kept  his  word.  All  the  adventurers  who  wished 
to  live  by  pillage  surrounded  him,  and  he  made 
laws  equally  for  the  friends  and  the  enemies  of  the 
emperor.  Christian  IV.  was  defeated  at  Lutter. 
Waldstein  reduced  Pomerania,  and  received  from 
the  emperor  the  estates  of  the  two. Dukes  of  Meck- 
lenburg, and  the  title  of  General  of  the  Baltic. 
But  for  the  succour  which  the  Swedes  threw  into 
the  place,  he  would  have  taken  the  powerful  city 
of  Stralsund  (1628).  All  the  North  trembled.  The 
emperor,  in  order  to  divide  his  enemies,  granted  to 
Denmark  a  humiliating  peace  (1629).  He  ordered 
a  restitution  to  the  Protestants  of  all  the  property 
secularized  since  1555.  Then  the  army  of  Wald- 
stein fell  back  upon  Germany,  and  overran  it  at 
pleasure ;  several  states  were  exhausted  by  enor- 
mous contributions.  So  great  was  the  distress  of 
*  He  signed  Juwsejf  Walfotein,  not  WaUensttin, 


286  SUMMARY    OF 

the  inhabitants,  that 'some  of  them  dug  up  corpses 
to  satisfy  their  hunger,  and  the  dead  were  found 
with  their  mouths  still  filled  with  raw  herbs. 

Gustavus  Adolphus,  1630 — Battle  of  Leipzig, 
1631  —  Swedish  Period,  1630-1636.  — Deliver- 
ance came  from  Sweden  and  France.  Cardinal 
Richelieu  disengaged  the  Swedes  by  procuring  for 
them  a  truce  with  Poland.  He  disarmed  the  em- 
peror by  persuading  him  that  he  could  not  have  his 
son  elected  king  of  the  Romans  unless  he  sacri- 
ficed Waldstein  to  the  resentment  of  Germany, 
and,  while  he  thus  deprived  himself  of  his  best 
general,  Gustavus  Adolphus  entered  the  Empire 
(1630).  Ferdinand  was  but  little  alarmed  at  first ; 
he  said  that  this  king  of  snow  would  melt  away  on. 
approaching  the  South.  They  knew  not  yet  what 
these  men  of  iron  were  ;  this  army,  heroic  and  pious 
in  comparison  with  the  mercenary  troops  of  Ger- 
many. A  short  time  after  the  arrival  of  Gustavus 
Adolphus,  Torquato  Conti,  general  of  the  emperor, 
demanded  a  truce,  in  consequence  of  the  severe 
cold ;  Gustavus  replied  that  the  Swedes  knew  not 
winter.  The  genius  of  the  conqueror  disconcerted 
the  German  routine  by  an  impetuous  tactics,  which 
sacrificed  everything  to  the  rapidity  of  its  move- 
ments, and  which  lavished  men  to  shorten  the  war. 
To  make  himself  master  of  the  strongholds  by  fol- 
lowing the  course  of  the  rivers,  to  secure  Sweden 


MODERN    HISTORY.  287 

by  closing  the  Baltic  against  the  Imperials,  to  de- 
prive them  of  all  their  allies,  to  hem  in  Austria 
before  attacking  it,  such  was  the  plan  of  Gustavus. 
If  he  had  marched  straight  to  Vienna,  he  would 
only  have  appeared  in  Germany  as  a  foreign  con-^ 
queror ;  by  driving  off  the  Imperials  from  the 
Northern  and  Western  States,  which  they  were 
destroying,  he  presented  himself  as  the  champion 
of  the  Empire  against  the  emperor.  Tilly,  who 
had  first  opposed  him,  arrested  not  the  torrent ; 
he  only  drew  the  hatred  of  Europe  on  the  Imperial 
troops  by  the  destruction  of  Magdebourg.  "  Saxony 
and  Brandenburgh,  which  wished  to  remain  neu- 
tral, were  drawn  into  an  alliance  with  Gustavus  by 
the  rapidity  of  his  success.  He  defeated  Tilly  in 
the  bloody  battle  of  Leipzig  (1631).  While  the 
Saxons  prepared  themselves  to  attack  Bohemia, 
he  beat  the  Duke  of  Lorraine,  penetrated  into  Al- 
sace, and  subjected  the  Electorates  of  Treves,  Ma- 
yence,  and  the  Rhine,  to  which  Richelieu  would 
have  extended  the  rights  of  neutrality ;  but  Gusta- 
vus wanted  either  friends  or  enemies.  Finally,  Ba- 
varia is  invaded  at  the  same  time  as  Bohemia,  Tilly 
dies  in  defending  the  Lech,  and  Austria  is  opened' 
on  all  sides. 

It  was  now  absolutely  necessary  that  Ferdinand 
should  have  recourse  to  that  proud  Waldstein  whom 
he  had  driven  away.  For  a  long  time  he  saw  the 


288  SUMMARY  OF 

emperor  and  the  Catholics,  as  it  were,  at  his  feet ; 
he  was,  he  said,  too  happy  in  his  retreat.  They 
could  only  conquer  this  philosophical  moderation 
by  giving  him  in  the  Empire  a  power  nearly  equal 
to  that  of  the  emperor. 

Lutzen,  1632. — At  this  price  he  saved  Bohemia, 
and  marched  on  Nuremberg,  to  arrest  the  arms  of 
Gustavus.  There  was  great  astonishment  in  Eu- 
rope when  they  saw  the  two  invincible  men  for 
three  months  encamped  face  to  face  without  taking 
advantage  of  an  opportunity  so  long  expected. 
Waldsteih  at  last  put  himself  in  motion,  and  was 
met  by  the  King  of  Sweden  near  Lutzen.  Gusta- 
vus made  an  attack,  wishing  to  defend  the  Elector 
of  Saxony.  After  several  charges,  the  king,  de- 
ceived by  the  darkness  of  a  fog,  threw  himself  be- 
fore the  enemy's  ranks,  and  fell,  struck  by  two 
bullets.  The  Duke  of  Saxe  Lauenburg,  who  after- 
ward went  over  to  the  Imperial  party,  was  behind 
him  at  the  fatal  moment,  and  was  accused  of 
his  death.  They  sent  the  buff-skin  coat  which 
the  Swedish  hero  wore  to  Vienna  (1632).  All 
;?  Europe  mourned  Gustavus.  But  why  ?  He  may 
have  died  most  opportunely  for  his  glory.  He  had 
saved  Germany,  and  had  not  had  time  to  oppress  it. 
He  had  not  restored  the  Palatinate  to  the  dis- 
possessed elector;  he  had  destined  Mayence  for 
his  Chancellor  Oxenstiern;  he  had  showed  his 


MODERN    HISTORY.  289 

disposition  to  reside  at  Augsburg,  which  would 
have  become  the  seat  of  a  new  empire. 

Assassination  of  Waldstein.  —  While  the  able 
Oxenstiern  continued  the  war,  and  had  himself 
declared  chief,  at  Heilbron,  of  the  League  of  the 
Circles  of  Franconia,  Swabia,  and  Rhine,  Waldstein 
remained  in  Bohemia  in  a  state  of  formidable  in- 
action. It  was  for  him  that  Gustavus  seemed  to 
have  laboured  in  destroying  throughout  all  Germany 
the  Imperial  party.  He  had  served  him  both  by 
his  victories  and  by  his  death.  "  Germany"  said 
Waldstein,  "  cannot  contain  two  men  like  us"  After 
the  death  of  Gustavus  he  was  alone.  Shut  up  in 
his  palace  at  Prague,  with  a  royal  train  of  attend- 
ants, and  surrounded  by  a  crowd  of  adventurers 
who  had  attached  themselves  to  his  fortune,  he 
there  watched  for  the  proper  opportunity.  This 
terrible  man,  who  was  seldom  seen,  who  never 
laughed,  and  who  only  spoke  to  his  soldiers  to 
make  their  fortune  or  to  pronounce  their  death, 
was  the  hope  of  Europe.  The  King  of  France 
called  him  his  cousin,  and  Richelieu  offered  his  in- 
terest to  make  him  King  of  Bohemia.  It  was 
time  that  the  emperor  made  a  decision ;  he  took 
the  decision  of  Henry  III.  in  respect  to  the  Duke 
of  Guise.  Waldstein  was  assassinated  at  Egra ; 
and  Ferdinand,  remembering  the  services  he  had 
B  B 


290  SUMMARY    OF 

formerly  rendered  to  him,  had  3000  masses  said 
for  the  peace  of  his  soul  (1634). 

In  the  mean  time,  the  Elector  of  Saxony  had 
made  his  peace  with  the  emperor.  The  Swedes 
were  not  strong  enough  to  remain  alone  in  Ger- 
many. It  was  necessary  that  France,  in  her  turn, 
should  descend  to  the  field  of  battle. 

Richelieu,  1635— French  Period,  1635-1648.— 
Richelieu,  who  then  governed  France,  found  it 
given  up  to  Spanish  influence,  and  harassed  by 
the  princes  and  the  nobles,  by  the  mother  of  the 
king,  and  by  the  Protestants  (government  of  Mary 
of  Medicis,  1610-17,  and  of  the  favourite  De 
Luynes,  1617-21).  This  great  minister,  employed 
against  the  last  the  system  of  Henry  IV.,  with 
this  advantage,  that  he  was  not  obliged  by  any 
former  engagement,  or  by  any  motives  of  gratitude, 
to  have  that  respect  for  them  which  might  be  in- 
imical to  his  own  interests.  He  had  taken  La 
Rochelle  from  them  by  constructing  a  dam  of  800 
toises  in  the  sea  (as  Alexander  formerly  did  at  the 
siege  of  Tyre) ;  had  conquered,  disarmed,  and  by 
a  magnanimous  policy  appeased  them  (1627-28). 
He  turned  himself  against  the  grandees,  had  the 
mother  and  brother  of  the  king  driven  from  France, 
and  caused  a  Marillac  and  a  Montmorency  to  per- 
ish on  the  scaffold  (1630-32).  He  had  prisons  in 
his  house  at  Ruel ;  he  had  his  enemies  condemned 


MODERN    HISTORY.  291 

there,  that  he  might  safely  deride  or  defy  the  judges- 
Nothing  remained  for  him  but  to  give  some  dignity 
to  these  odious  victories  over  his  internal  enemies 
by  conquests  abroad  (1635). 

Bernard  of  Weimar. — First,  he  bought  over  Ber- 
nard of  Weimar  (the  best  disciple  of  Gustavus  Adol- 
phus),  with  his  army.  He  united  himself  with  the 
Dutch  to  divide  the  Spanish  Netherlands,  while  at 
the  other  end  of  France  he  retook  Roussillon  ;  the 
alliance  with  the  Duke  of  Savoy  secured  to  him  the 
passages  of  Italy.  Having  commenced  from  the 
side  of  the  Netherlands,  France  gained  in  Italy 
more  glory  than  real  advantage.  But  the  Dutch, 
her  allies,  destroyed  the  Spanish  navy  in  the  battle 
of  the  Dunes  (1639).  Bernard  of  Weimar  took  the 
four  forest  towns,*  and  also  Friburg  and  Brisach, 
under  the  walls  of  which  he  obtained  four  victories. 
He  forgot  that  France  had  already  purchased  his 
conquests  from  him.  He  was  going  to  make  him- 
self independent,  when  he  died,  as  opportunely 
for  Richelieu  as  the  death  of  Waldstein  was  for 
Ferdinand. 

Success  of  the  French. — Everything  became  fa- 
vourable to  the  French  from  the  moment  that  the 
rebellion  of  Catalonia  and  of  Portugal  forced  Spain 
into  a  defensive  war  (1640).  The  house  of  Bra- 

*  Rhinfeld,  Valdshut,  Sechingen,  Lauffenburg,  called  forest 
because  near  the  Black  Forest. 


292  SUMMARY  OF 

ganza  ascended  the  throne  of  Portugal  with  the 
applause  of  Europe.  The  French  victors  in  Italy 
took,  in  the  Low  Countries,  Arras  and  Thionville. 
The  great  Conde  gained  the  battle  of  Rocroi  five 
days  after  the  accession  of  Louis  XIV. :  a  happy 
omen  for  this  great  reign,  which  encouraged  France 
after  the  death  of  Richelieu  and  Louis  XIII. 

Battle  of  Leipzig,  1642. — The  war  had  now 
changed  its  character  for  the  second  time.  To  the 
fanaticism  of  Tilly,  and  of  his  master  Ferdinand 
II.,  to  the  revolutionary  genius  of  the  Waldsteins 
and  the  Weimars,  had  succeeded  able  tacticians, 
a  Piccolomini,  a  Merci,  generals  of  the  emperor, 
Banner,  Torstenson,  and  Wrangel,  pupils  of  Gus- 
tavus.  War  being  a  profitable  trade  for  so  many 
people,  peace  became  more  and  more  difficult. 
France,  entirely  occupied  with  protecting  her  con- 
quests of  Lorraine  and  Alsace,  refused  to  join  the 
Swedes  to  overthrow  the  house  of  Austria.  Tor- 
stenson thought  for  a  moment  that  he  could  con- 
quer without  the  aid  of  the  French.  This  para- 
lytic general,  who  astonished  Europe  by  the  rapid- 
ity of  his  manoeuvres,  had  renewed  the  glory  of 
Gustavus  Adolphus  at  Leipzig  (1642).  He  had 
given  a  blow  to  the  Danes,  the  secret  friends  of 
the  emperor ;  the  alliance  with  Transylvania  per- 
mitted him,  finally,  to  penetrate  Austria  (1645). 
The  defection  of  Transylvania,  and  the  death  of 
Torstenson,  saved  the  emperor. 


MODERN   HISTORY.  293 

Ferdinand  III.,  1637—  Conde—  Treaty  of  West- 
phalia,  1648. — In  the  mean  time,  negotiations  had 
been  opened  since  1636  ;  the  accession  of  Ferdi- 
nand III.  to  the  Empire  seemed  necessarily  to  fa- 
vour them  (1637).  Although  the  mediation  of  the 
pope,  of  Venice,  and  of  the  kings  of  Denmark,  Po- 
land, and  England,  had  been  rejected,  the  prelimina- 
ries of  peace  were  signed  in  1642.  The  death  of 
Richelieu  revived  the  hopes  of  the  house  of  Austria, 
and  retarded  the  peace.  The  victories  of  Conde  at 
Friburg,  at  Nordlingen,  and  at  Sens  (1644-45-48), 
that  of  Turenne  and  the  Swedes  at  Sommers- 
hausen,  and,  finally,  the  taking  of  Little  Prague  by 
Wrangel  (1648),  were  necessary  to  decide  the 
emperor  to  sign  the  treaty  of  Westphalia.  The 
war  continued  only  between  Spain,  France,  and 
Portugal.  Principal  articles  :  1st.  The  peace  of 
Augsburg  (1555)  is  confirmed  and  extended  to  the 
Calvinists.  2d.  The  sovereignty  of  the  different 
States  of  Germany  within  their  own  territory  is 
sanctioned,  also  their  right  to  the  general  diets  of 
the  Empire  ;  those  rights  are  warranted  internally, 
by  the  position  of  the  Imperial  Chamber  and  Aulic 
Council,  to  which  an  equal  number  of  Protestants 
and  Catholics  were  hereafter  to  be  admitted  ;  exter- 
nally, by  the  mediation  of  France  and  Sweden. 
.3d.  Indemnities  awarded  to  several  states,  and,  to 
secure  them,  a  great  amount  of  ecclesiastical  prop- 
B  *2 


294  SUMMARY    OF 

erty  is  secularized.  France  obtains  Alsace,  the 
three  bishoprics,  Philipsburg,  and  Pignerol,  the 
keys  of  Germany  and  Piedmont :  Sweden,  a  part  of 
Pomerania,  Bremen,  Yerden,  Wismar,  &e.,  three 
votes  at  the  diets  of  the  Empire,  and  five  millions 
of  German  dollars :  The  Elector  of  Brandenburg, 
Magdebourg,  Halberstadt,  &c.,  &c. :  Saxony,  Meck- 
lenburg, and  Hesse  Cassel,  are  also  indemnified. 
4th.  The  son  of  Frederic  V.  recovers  the  Lower 
Palatinate  of  the  Rhine  (the  Upper  Palatinate  re- 
mains in  the  hands  of  Bavaria) ;  an  eighth  electo- 
ral dignity  is  created  in  his  favour.  5th.  The 
United  Provinces,  are  acknowledged  as  independ- 
ent of  Spain ;  the  United  Provinces  and  Swiss 
Cantons,  independent  of  the  German  Empire. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE  EAST  AND  NORTH  IN  THE  FIFTEENTH  CEN- 
TURY. 

§  I.  TURKEY,  HUNGARY,  1566-1648. 

Solyman  the  Magnificent. — The  reign  of  Soly- 
man  the  Magnificent  had  been  the  summit  of  Otto- 
man grandeur.  Under  him  the  Turks  were  equal- 
ly formidable  by  land  and  by  sea  ;  they  were  ad- 
mitted into  the  system  of  Europe  by  their  alliance 
witk  France  against  the  house  of  Austria.  Soly- 


MODERN    HISTORY.  295 

man  endeavoured  to  give  fixed  laws  to  his  people, 
collected  the  maxims  and  ordinances  of  his  prede- 
cessors, supplied  those  which  were  lost,  and  set- 
tled the  civil  hierarchy.  He  embellished  Con- 
stantinople by  rebuilding  the  ancient  aqueduct,  of 
which  the  water  is  divided  among  eight  hundred 
fountains ;  he  founded  the  Mosque  Souleimanieh, 
to  which  four  colleges  are  attached,  a  house  of 
refuge  for  the  poor,  an  hospital  for  the  sick,  and  a 
library  of  two  thousand  manuscripts.  The  Turk- 
ish language  ennobles  itself  by  a  mixture  of  Ara- 
bian and  Persian ;  Solyman  himself  made  verses 
in  these  languages.  In  his  old  age  the  sultan  was 
entirely  governed  by  Rouschen  (Roxalana),  whom 
he  had  married,  and  who  caused  him  to  put  his 
children  by  a  former  marriage  to  death.  The  em- 
pire, exhausted  by  so  many  wars,  seemed  to  grow 
old  with  him  under  the  influence  of  the  government 
of  a  seraglio.  Solyman  prepared  its  ruin  by  taking 
the  command  of  the  armies  from  the  members  of 
the  imperial  family. 

Lepanto,  1571. — Under  his  indolent  successor, 
Selim  II.  (1566-1574),  the  Turks  took  Cyprus  from 
the  Venitians,  who  received  but  little  assistance 
from  Spain  ;  but  they  were  defeated  in  the  Gulf  of 
Lepanto  by  the  combined  fleets  of  Philip  II. ,  Ven- 
ice, and  the  pope,  under  the  orders  of  Don  Juan  of 
Austria.  Since  this  check,  the  Turks  allow  that 


296  SUMMARY    OF 

God,  who  has  given  them  the  empire  of  the  land, 
has  left  the  dominion  of  the  sea  to  infidels. 

Under  Amurat  III.,  Mohammed  III.,  and  Achmet 
I.  (1574-1617),  the  Turks  sustained,  with  various 
success,  long  wars  against  the  Persians  and  the 
Hungarians.  The  janizaries,  who  by  their  revolts 
had  troubled  the  reigns  of  these  princes,  put  to 
death  their  successors,  Mustapha  and  Othman 
(1617-1623).  The  Empire  rose  under  Amurat 
IV.,  the  Intrepid,  who  employed  the  turbulent  spir- 
it of  the  janizaries  abroad,  took  Bagdad,  and  in- 
terposed in  the  troubles  of  India.  Under  the  imbe- 
cile Ibrahim  (1645-49),  the  Turks,  always  fol- 
lowing the  impulse  given  to  them  by  Amurat,  took 
Candia  from  the  Venitians. 

Hungary. — This  kingdom  had  been  divided  be- 
tween the  house  of  Austria  and  the  Turks  since 
1562.  From  this  division  rose  a  continual  war. 
The  jurisdiction  of  Transylvania  was  another  cause 
of  war  between  Austria  and  the  Porte.  In  the  in- 
terior, Hungary  was  not  more  tranquil.  The  Aus- 
trian princes,  hoping  to  increase  their  power  by 
leading  Hungary  back  to  religious  uniformity,  per- 
secuted the  Protestants  and  violated  the  privileges 
of  the  nation.  The  Hungarians  rose  under  Rudolph 
II.,  Ferdinand  II.,  and  Ferdinand  III.  ;  the  princes 
of  Transylvania,  Etienne  Botschkai',  Betlem  Gabor, 
George  Regotzi,  placed  themselves  successively  at 


MODERN    HISTORY.  297 

the  head  of  the  malecontents.  By  the  pacifications 
of  Vienna  (1622)  and  of  Lintz  (1645) ;  by  the  de- 
crees of  the  diets  of  Oldenburg  (1622)  and  Pres- 
burg  (1647),  the  kings  of  Hungary  were  forced  to 
consent  to  the  public  exercise  of  the  Protestant 
religion,  and  to  respect  the  national  privileges. 

§  II.  POLAND,  PRUSSIA,    RUSSIA,    1505- 
1648. 

Poland  triumphed  over  the  Teutonic  Order,  a 
German  power,  which,  though  feebly  sustained  by 
the  Empire,  had  pushed  itself  beyond  Germany 
into  the  heart  of  the  Sclavonic  States.  In  recom- 
pense for  this,  however,  she  neglected  to  protect  the 
Bohemians  and  Hungarians  in  their  revolts  against 
Austria. 

The  two  great  nations  of  Sclavonic  origin  had 
frequent  communication  with  each  other,  but  little 
intercourse  with  the  Scandinavian  States,  till  the 
revolutions  of  Livonia  engaged  them  in  a  common 
war,  towards  the  middle  of  the  16th  century.  Li- 
vonia then  became  for  the  North  of  Europe  what 
Milan  had  been  for  the  South. 

Prussia,  1525 — State  of  Poland  and  Prussia  in 
the  first  half  of  the  16th  Century — Accession  of  Wa- 
sili  IV.  (Iwanowitch),  1505,  and  of  Sigismond  /., 
1506. — The  feeble  Wasili  had  the  imprudence  to 
break  with  the  Tartars  of  the  Crimea,  whose  ser- 


298  SUMMARY    OF 

vices  had  been  so  useful  to  Iwan  III. ;  he  comple- 
ted the  subjection  of  Plescof,  took  Smolensk  from 
the  Lithuanians,  but  was  defeated  by  them  in  the 
same  year  (1514).  He  united  himself  to  the  Teu- 
tonic Order  against  the  Poles,  but  was  not  able  to 
save  Prussia  from  submitting  to  Poland.  The 
grand- master,  Albert  of  Brandenburg,  embraced 
Lutheranism  ( 1525),  secularized  Teutonic  Prussia, 
and  received  it  in  fief  from  Sigismond  I. 

Iwan  IV.,  1533-1584.  1533,  Accession  of  Iwan 
IV.  (Wasiliewitch)  in  Russia;  1548,  of  S/gismond 
II. ,  called  Augustus,  in  Poland. — During  the  mi- 
nority of  Iwan  IV.,  the  power  passed  from  the 
hands  of  the  Regent  Helerie  to  several  princes, 
who  supplanted  each  other.  1547,  under  the  influ- 
ence of  the  Empress  Anastasia,  Iwan  IV.  restrained 
at  first  the  violence  of  his  character.  He  comple- 
ted the  humbling  of  the  Tartars  by  the  definitive 
reunion  of  Kasan,  and  by  the  conquest  of  Astra- 
kan  (1552-1554). 

Livonia,  1558-83  —  War  of  Livonia.  —  The  or- 
der of  the  knights  of  Porte- Glaive,  conqueror  of 
the  Russians  (1502),  had  been  independent  of  the 
Teutonic  Order  since  1521.  But  towards  this 
epoch  all  the  powers  of  the  North  preferred  their 
claims  on  Livonia.  Iwan  IV.  having  invaded  it 
in  1558,  the  grand-master,  Gotthar  Kettler,  pre- 
ferred to  reunite  it  to  Poland  by  the  treaty  of  Wilna 


MODERN    HISTORY.  299 

(1561),  creating  himself  Duke  of  Courland.  The 
King  of  Denmark,  Frederic  II..  master  of  the 
island  of  GEsel,  and  of  certain  districts,  and  the 
King  of  Sweden,  Eric  XIV.,  having  been  called 
to  aid  the  city  of  Revel,  and  the  nobility  of  Esthonia, 
took  part  in  the  war,  which  was  prosecuted  by 
land  and  by  sea. 

The  Czar  encountered  two  obstacles  in  his  plans 
of  conquest :  the  jealousy  of  the  Russians  against 
the  strangers,  whom  he  preferred  before  them,  and 
the  fear  which  his  cruelty  had  impressed  upon  the 
Livonians.  He  crushed  all  his  subjects  who  were 
able  to  resist  him,  whether  in  the  trading  class  or 
among  the  nobility  (1570),  and  finally  invaded 
Livonia  in  the  name  of  a  brother  of  the  King  of 
Denmark  (1575).  But  Poland  and  Sweden  united 
themselves  against  the  Czar,  who  made  peace 
with  Poland  by  giving  up  Livonia  to  her,  and  con- 
cluded a  truce  with  Sweden,  which  remained  in 
possession  of  Carelia  (1582-83).  He  died  in  1584. 

[Code  of  Iwan  IV. ,  1550,  presenting  a  system- 
atized view  of  all  the  ancient  laws — Gratuitous  jus- 
tice— All  landholders  subjected  to  military  service 
— Establishment  of  a  regular  pay  of  the  soldiers — 
Institution  of  the  permanent  militia  of  the  guards 
— Commerce  with  Tartary,  Turkey,  and  Lithuania. 
The  wars  of  Livonia  and  Lithuania  closing  the 
Baltic  to  the  Russians,  they  had  no  longer  commu- 


300  SUMMARY    OF 

nications  with  the  rest  of  Europe,  except  by  wind- 
ing round  Sweden  through  the  seas  of  the  North. 
1555,  the  Englishman,  Chanceller,  sent  by  Queen 
Mary  to  find  a  northern  passage  to  the  Indies,  landed 
at  the  place  where,  afterward,  Archangel  was  found- 
ed ;  there  was  regular  commerce  between  Russia 
and  England  until  the  civil  wars  of  Russia  (1605). 
— 1577-81,  discovery  of  Siberia.] 

Successions  of  Poland,  1572  ;  of  Russia,  1593. — 
The  dynasty  of  the  Jagellons  was  extinguished  in 
1572,  by  the  death  of  Sigismond  Augustus ;  that 
of  Rurick  in  1598,  by  the  death  of  Czar  Fedor 
/.,  son  and  successor  of  I  wan  IV.  From  these 
two  events  resulted  directly,  or  indirectly,  two  long 
and  bloody  wars,  which  again  set  up  as  prizes  all 
the  northern  dominions ;  one  War  had  the  succes- 
sion of  Sweden  for  its  object,  the  other  the  succes- 
sion of  Russia.  The  first  war,  which  lasted  sixty- 
seven  years  (1593-1660),  was  twice  interrupted: 
first  by  the  second  war  (1609-1619),  and  afterward 
by  the  Thirty  Years'  War  (1629-1655). 

False  Demetrius.  —  The  throne  of  Poland  be- 
came purely  elective  1573-1575.  Henry  of  Valois 
appeared  in  this  kingdom  only  to  sign  the  first 
Pacta  Conventa,  1570-1587.  The  accession  of 
Ethienne  Batthon,  prince  of  Transylvania,  delayed 
the  moment  when  Poland  was  to  lose  her  pre- 
ponderance. He  limited  the  power  of  his  subjects 


MODERN    HISTORY.  301 

(Dantzic,  Riga,  1578-1586);  he  humbled  Russia 
and  Denmark  (1582-85).  1587,  Sigismond  III., 
son  of  John  III.,  king  of  Sweden,  elected  King 
of  Poland,  found  himself,  at  his  accession  to  the 
throne  of  his  father,  in  a  difficult  position.  Sweden 
was  Protestant ;  Poland  Catholic  ;  they  both  claim- 
ed Livonia.  The  uncle  of  Sigismond  (Charles 
IX.),  chief  of  the  Lutheran  party  in  Sweden,  pre- 
vailed over  him,  both  by  policy  (1593)  and  by 
arms  (1598).  Thence  a  war  between  the  two 
nations,  which  was  interrupted  only  at  the  moment 
that  they  took  Russia  for  a  field  of  battle.  The 
usurpation  of  Borris-Godunow,  and  the  impostures 
of  several  false  Demetrii,  who  called  themselves 
heirs  of  the  throne  of  Moscow,  made  the  Poles 
and  Swedes  hope  either  to  dismember  Russia,  or 
to  give  her  one  of  their  princes  as  master.  Their 
hopes  were  defeated.  A  Russian  (1613-1645), 
Michael  Fedrowitc.li,  founded  the  house  of  Roma- 
now.  1616-1618,  Russia  gave  up  to  Sweden  In- 
gria  and  Russian  Carelia  ;  to  Poland  the  territories 
of  Smqlensko,  Tschernigow,  and  Nowgorod-Ser- 
verskoi,  and  she  lost  all  communication  with  the 
Baltic.  1620-1629,  the  war  recommenced  be- 
tween Poland  and  Sweden,  and  was  continued  to 
the  period  in  which  Gustavus  Adolphus  engaged 
in  the  Thirty  Years'  War  (1629.  Treaty  of  six 
years,  renewed  in  1635  for  twenty-six). 
Cc 


302  SUMMARY    OF 

Sigismond  III.  and  his  successor,  Wladislas 
VII.  (1632-1648),  sustained  long  wars  against  the 
Turks,  the  Russians,  and  the  Cossacks  of  the 
Ukraine. 

Poland  yielded  to  Sweden  the  part  of  predomi- 
nant power  in  the  North,  but  she  retained  her  su- 
periority over  Russia,  whose  development  had 
been  retarded  by  her  civil  wars. 

Prussia,  1563. —  Joachim  II.,  elector  of  Bran- 
denburg, obtained  from  the  King  of  Poland  the 
investiture  of  the  fief  of  Prussia.  1618,  at  the 
death  of  the  Duke  Albert-Frederic  (son  of  Albert 
of  Brandenburg),  the  Elector  John  Sigismond,  his 
son-in-law,  succeeded  him.  1614-1666,  the  elec- 
toral branch  also  received  a  part  of  the  succession 
of  Juliers,  in  virtue  of  the  claims  of  Anne,  daughter 
of  the  Duke  of  Prussia,  Albert-Frederic,  and  wife 
of  the  Elector  of  Brandenburg,  John  Sigismond. 
The  son  of  the  latter,  Frederic  William,  founded 
the  grandeur  of  Prussia. 

§  III.  DENMARK  AND  SWEDEN. 
In  the  16th  century  these  two  states  were  the 
prey  of  internal  troubles,  and  sustained  long  wars. 
The  resources  of  the  two  nations,  however,  were 
developed,  and  they  became  prepared  for  the  Thirty 
Years'  War.  The  conduct  of  Sweden  at  that  time 


MODERN    HISTORY.  303 

was  a  prelude  to  the  heroic  part  which  she  was  to 
play  throughout  all  the  18th  century. 

Peace  of  Stettin,  1570. — The  weakness  of  Den- 
mark and  the  internal  troubles  of  Sweden  termi- 
nated (by  the  peace  of  Stettin,  1570)  a  long  quar- 
rel, which  had  existed  between  these  kingdoms 
since  the  rupture  of  the  Union  of  Calmar.  Den- 
mark was  from  that  time  tranquil,  under  the  long 
reigns  of  Frederic  II.  (1559-1588)  and  of  Chris- 
tiern  IV.,  down  to  the  period  when  the  latter,  rather 
an  able  minister  than  a  great  general,  compromised 
the  repose  of  Denmark  by  attacking  Gustavus 
Adolphus  (1611-1613),  and  by  taking  part  in  the 
Thirty  Years'  War  (1625). 

The  unworthy  son  of  Gustavus  Vasa,  Eric  XIV. 
(1560-1568),  had  been  dispossessed  by  his  brother, 
John  lit.  (1568-1592),  who  undertook  to  re-estab- 
lish the  Catholic  religion  in  Sweden.  The  son  of 
John  Sigismond,  king  of  Sweden  and  Poland,  was 
supplanted  by  his  uncle,  Charles  IX.  (1604),  father 
of  Gustavus  Adolphus.  See,  above,  the  article  Po- 


304  SUMMARY    OF 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

DISCOVERIES  AND  COLONIES  OF  THE  MODERNS- 
DISCOVERIES  AND  ESTABLISHMENTS  OF  THE  POR- 
TUGUESE IN  BOTH  INDIES,  1412—1582. 

§   I.  DISCOVERIES  AND  COLONIES  OF  THE  MODERNS. 

Principal  Motives  which  have  determined  the  Mod- 
erns to  seek  new  Countries,  and  to  establish  themselves 
there. — 1st.  Martial  and  adventurous  spirit,  desire 
to  gain  by  conquest  and  pillage.  2d.  Commercial 
spirit,  desire  to  acquire  by  the  legitimate  method 
of  exchange.  3d.  Religious  spirit,  desire  either  to 
convert  the  idolatrous  nations  to  the  Christian  faith, 
or  to  escape  themselves  religious  persecution. 

We  owe  the  foundation  of  the  principal  modern 
colonies  to  the  five  most  western  nations  who  have 
held,  successively,  the  empire  of  the  seas  :  to  the 
Portuguese  and  Spaniards  (15th  and  16th  centu- 
ries);  to  the  Dutch  and  French  (17th  century)  ; 
finally,  to  the  English  (17th  and  18th  centuries). 
The  Spanish  colonies  had,  at  first,  the  exploring 
of  the  mines  for  their  principal  object ;  the  aim  of 
the  Portuguese  was  commerce,  and  the  raising  of 
tributes  imposed  upon  the  conquered.  The  Dutch 
colonies  were  essentially  commercial;  those  of 
the  English  were  both  commercial  and  agricultural. 


MODERN    HISTORY.  305 

The  principal  difference  between  the  ancient 
and  modern  colonies  is,  that  the  ancient  only  re- 
mained united  to  their  mother-country  by  a  sort  of 
filial  bond.  The  moderns  are  regarded  as  the 
property  of  their  parent  country,  which  interdicts 
to  them  all  commerce  with  strangers. 

Direct  Results  of  the  Discoveries  and  Establish- 
merits  of  the  Moderns. — Commerce  changed  both 
its  form  and  route.  For  land  commerce,  maritime 
was  generally  substituted ;  the  commerce  of  the 
world  passed  from  the  countries  situated  on  the 
Mediterranean  to  the  Western  countries.  The  indi- 
rect results  are  innumerable  ;  the  one  most  remark- 
able is  the  development  of  the  maritime  powers. 

Principal  Routes  of  the  Commerce  of  the  East 
during  the  Middle  Ages. — In  the  first  half  of  the  Mid- 
dle Ages,  the  Greeks  carried  on  the  commerce  with 
India  through  Egypt,  then  through  the  Black  and 
Caspian  Seas  ;  in  the  second,  the  Italians  carried 
it  on  through  Syria  and  the  Gulf  of  Persia ;  finally, 
through  Egypt.  Crusades.  Voyages  of  Rubruquis, 
Marco  Paolo,  and  John  Mandeville,  from  the  llth 
to  the  14th  century.  At  the  commencement  of  the 
14th  century  the  Spaniards  discovered  the  Canaries. 

§    II.    DISCOVERIES  AND   ESTABLISHMENTS    OF   THE 
PORTUGUESE. 


The  Infant  Don  Henry. — It  belonged  to  the  most 
C  c2 


;TY)) 


306  SUMMARY    OF 

western  nation  of  Europe  to  commence  a  train 
of  discoveries,  which  have  spread  European  civi- 
lization over  all  the  world.  The  Portuguese,  re- 
strained by  the  power  of  Spain,  and  always  at 
war  with  the  Moors,  from  whom  they  had  con- 
quered their  country,  had  to  turn  their  ambition 
towards  the  coast  of  Africa.  After  a  crusade  of 
several  centuries,  the  ideas  of  the  conquerors  were 
enlarged  ;  they  conceived  the  project  of  seeking 
new  infidel  nations,  in  order  to  subject  and  convert 
them.  A  thousand  old  narratives  excited  their 
curiosity,  their  valour,  and  their  avarice ;  they 
wished  to  see  those  mysterious  countries  where 
nature  had  created  monsters,  or  where  she  had 
strewed  gold  on  the  surface  of  the  ground.  The 
Infant  Don  Henry,  third  son  of  John  I.,  seconded 
the  ardour  of  the  nation.  He  spent  his  life  at 
Segres,  near  the  Cape  of  St.  Vincent ;  there,  with 
his  eyes  fixed  on  the  seas  of  the  South,  he  gave 
instructions  to  the  pilots  who  first  visited  those  un- 
known climes.  Cape  Non,  the  fatal  limit  of  an- 
cient navigators,  had  already  been  passed ;  they 
had  discovered  Madeira  (1412-13) ;  they  passed 
even  Cape  Boyador  and  Cape  Verde  ;  they  discov- 
ered the  Azores  (1448) ;  they  had  gone,  too,  beyond 
that  formidable  line  where  they  believed  that  the 
air  burned  like  fire.  When  they  had  pushed  be- 
yond Senegal,  they  saw,  with  astonishment,  that 


MODERN    HISTORY.  307 

the  men,  who  were  of  a  lead  colour  north  of  this 
river,  were  entirely  black  at  the  south.  On  arri- 
ving at  Congo,  they  saw  a  new  heaven  and  new 
stars  (1484).  But  what  encouraged  the  spirit  of 
discovery  more  powerfully,  was  the  gold  which 
they  had  found  in  Guinea. 

Cape  of  Good  Hope,  1486. — They  now  began 
to  pay  more  respect  to  the  reports  of  the  ancient 
Phoenicians,  who  pretended  to  have  made  the  cir- 
cuit of  Africa,  and  they  hoped  that,  by  following 
the  same  route,  they  would  be  able  to  reach  the 
East  Indies.  While  the  king,  John  II.,  sent  two 
gentlemen  by  land  to  the  Indies  (Covillam  and 
Payva),  Barthelemy  Diaz  touched  at  the  promon- 
tory which  terminates  Africa  in  the  South,  and 
named  it  Cape  of  Tempest ;  but  the  king,  who 
from  that  time  was  sure  of  finding  the  route  to  the 
Indies,  called  it  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  (1486). 

It  was  then  that  the  discovery  of  the  New  World 
astonished  the  Portuguese,  and  redoubled  their  emu- 
lation. Two  nations,  however,  were  ready  to  dis- 
pute the  empire  of  the  sea  ;  they  had  recourse  to  the 
pope  ;  Alexander  VI.  divided  the  two  new  worlds : 
all  which  was  east  of  the  Azores  was  to  belong  to 
Portugal ;  all  west  was  given  to  Spain.  They 
traced  a  line  on  the  globe,  which  marked  the  limits 
of  these  reciprocal  rights,  and  which  they  called 
the  line  of  demarcation.  New  discoveries  soon 
disturbed  this  line. 


308  SUMMARY    OF 

Vasco  de  Gama,  1497-1498.— At  last  the  King 
of  Portugal,  Emmanuel  the  Fortunate,  gave  the 
command  of  a  fleet  to  the  famous  Vasco  de  Gama 
(1497-1498).  He  received  from  the  king  the  jour- 
nal of  the  voyage  of  Covillam ;  he  took  out  ten 
men  condemned  to  death,  whose  lives  he  might 
risk  if  needful,  and  who  by  their  courage  might 
merit  pardon.  He  spent  one  night  in  prayers  in 
the  Chapel  of  the  Virgin,  and  received  the  sacra- 
ment on  the  eve  of  his  departure.  The  people,  in 
tears,  conducted  him  to  the  shore.  A  magnificent 
convent  has  been  founded  on  the  spot  from  which 
Gama  departed. 

The  fleet  approached  the  terrible  cape,  when  the 
crew,  terrified  by  this  stormy  sea,  and  dreading  a 
famine,  rose  against  Gama.  Nothing  could  stop 
him  ;  he  put  the  ringleader  in  irons,  and  taking 
the  helm  himself,  he  doubled  the  extremity  of 
Africa.  Greater  dangers  awaited  him  on  the  east- 
ern coast,  which,  as  yet,  no  European  vessel  had 
visited.  The  Moors,  who  traded  with  Africa  and 
India,  laid  snares  for  these  new-comers,  who  ap- 
peared to  share  the  treasures  with  them.  But  the 
artillery  terrified  them,  and  Gama,  traversing  the 
gulf  of  seven  hundred  leagues  which  separated 
Africa  from  India,  landed  at  Calicut,  thirteen 
months  after  his  departure  from  Lisbon. 

Upon  landing  on  this  unknown  shore,  Vasco 


MODERN    HISTORY.  309 

forbade  his  men  to  follow  him,  or  to  come  to  his 
help,  if  they  heard  that  he  was  in  danger  ;  and 
notwithstanding  the  plots  of  the  Moors,  he  caused 
Zamorin  to  accept  the  alliance  of  Portugal. 

Alvares  Cabral.  —  A  new  expedition  soon  fol- 
lowed the  first,  under  the  orders  of  Alvares  Cabral ; 
the  admiral  received  from  the  hands  of  the  king  a 
hat  blessed  by  the  pope.  After  having  passed  the 
Cape  Verde  Islands,  he  took  to  the  wide  sea, 
moved  far  towards  the  west,  where  he  saw  a 
new  country,  rich  and  fertile,  where  everlasting 
spring  reigned  :  this  was  Brazil,  the  country,  of  all 
the  American  Continent,  nearest  to  Africa.  There 
are  but  thirty  degrees  of  longitude  from  this  country 
to  Mount  Atlas :  this  was  the  land  which  they  ought 
to  have  discovered  first  (1500). 

Albuquerque,  1505-1515. — The  address  of  Ca- 
bral, Gama,  and  Almeida,  first  viceroy  of  the  In- 
dies, frustrated  the  efforts  of  the  Moors,  divided  the 
natives  of  the  country,  and  armed  Cochin  against 
Calicut  and  Cananor.  Quiloa  and  Sofala,  in 
Africa,  received  the  laws  of  Europe.  But  the 
principal  founder  of  the  Empire  of  the  Portuguese 
in  the  Indies  was  the  valiant  Albuquerque ;  he 
took,  at  the  entrance  of  the  Gulf  of  Persia,  Or- 
mus,  the  most  brilliant  and  polished  city  of  Asia 
(1507).  The  King  of  Persia,  to  whom  she  had 
belonged,  demanded  a  tribute  from  the  Portuguese  ; 


310  SUMMARY  OF 

Albuquerque  showed  to  the  ambassador  his  cannons 
and  balls :  "  There,"  said  he,  "  is  the  coin  with 
which  the  King  of  Portugal  pays  tribute." 

The  Venitians. — In  the  mean  time,  Venice  saw 
the  sources  of  her  riches  drained ;  the  route  from 
Alexandria  began  to  be  neglected.  The  Sultan  of 
Egypt  perceived  that  there  were  no  more  duties 
upon  provisions  from  the  East;  the  Venitians 
leagued  with  him,  and  sent  to  Alexandria  frames 
of  wood,  which  were  transported  to  Suez,  and 
of  which  they  made  ships  (1508).  She  had  at 
first  the  advantage  over  the  Portuguese,  but  she 
was  afterward  defeated,  as  were  also  the  other 
armaments  which  continued  to  descend  the  Red 
Sea.  To  prevent  new  attacks,  Albuquerque  pro- 
posed to  the  King  of  Abyssinia  to  alter  the  course 
of  the  Nile,  which  would  have  changed  Egypt  into 
a  desert. 

He  made  Goa  the  chief  of  the  Portuguese  es- 
tablishments in  India  (1510).  The  occupation  of 
Malacca  and  Ceylon  rendered  the  Portuguese 
masters  of  the  vast  sea  which  terminates  the  Gulf 
of  Bengal  at  the  north  (1511-1518).  The  con- 
queror died  at  Goa,  poor  and  disgraced,  and  with 
him  departed  all  the  justice  and  all  the  humanity 
of  the  conquerors.  Long  after  his  death,  the  In- 
dians went  to  the  grave  of  the  great  Albuquerque 
to  demand  justice  from  him  for  the  grievances 
caused  by  his  successors. 


MODERN    HISTORY.  311 

Empire  of  the  Portuguese.  —  The  Portuguese 
having  introduced  themselves  to  China  and  Japan 
(1517-42),  possessed  for  some  time  all  the  mari- 
time commerce  of  Asia.  Their  sway  extended 
over  the  coasts  of  Guinea,  of  Melinde,  of  Mozam- 
bique, and  of  Sofala ;  over  those  of  both  Indies, 
over  the  Malaccas,  Ceylon,  and  the  Sonda  Islands. 
But  they  had  little  more  in  this  vast  extent  of 
country  than  a  chain  of  factories  and  forts.  The 
decay  of  their  colonies  was  accelerated  by  several 
causes :  first,  the  distance  of  their  conquests ; 
second,  the  feeble  population  of  Portugal  little 
calculated  to  extend  their  establishments ;  their 
national  pride  prevented  an  amalgamation  of  the 
conquerors  with  the  conquered;  third,  the  love 
of  plunder,  which  was  soon  substituted  for  the 
spirit  of  commerce  ;  fourth,  the  disorder  of  the  ad- 
ministration ;  fifth,  the  monopoly  of  the  crown  ; 
sixth,  and  finally,  the  Portuguese,  who  were  satis- 
fied with  transporting  the  merchandise  to  Lisbon, 
and  did  not  distribute  it  in  Europe,  must  sooner  or 
later  be  supplanted  by  more  industrious  rivals. 

John  of  Castro. — The  downfall  of  their  Empire 
was  retarded  by  two  heroes,  John  of  Castro  (1543- 
48)  and  Ataide  (1568-72).  John  of  Castro  had 
to  fight  the  Indians  and  the  Turks  united.  The 
King  of  Camboja  had  received  from  the  great 
Solyman  engineers,  founders,  and  all  the  imple- 


312  SUMMARY    OF 

ments  for  a  European  war.  Castro,  neverthe- 
less, delivered  the  citadel  of  Dm,  and  triumphed 
?»t  Goa,  after  the  manner  of  the  generals  of  an- 
juity.  He  wanted  funds  to  repair  the  fortifica- 
ons  of  Diu ;  he  made  a  loan  in  his  own  name 
rom  the  inhabitants  of  Goa,  giving  them  his  whis- 
kers for  security.  He  expired  in  the  arms  of  St. 
Francis  Xavier,  in  1548.  Only  three  reals  were 
found  in  the  house  of  this  man,  who  had  the  man- 
agement of  the  treasury  of  the  ladies. 

Atdide. — The  government  of  Ataide  was  the 
epoch  of  a  universal  rising  of  the  Indies  against 
the  Portuguese  ;  he  faced  every  opponent,  beat  the 
army  of  the  King  of  Camboja,  composed  of  a  hun- 
dred thousand  men,  defeated  Zamorin,  and  made 
him  swear  to  have  no  more  vessels  of  war.  Even 
when  he  was  again  pressed  in  Goa,  he  refused  to 
give  up  the  most  remote  possessions,  and  made  ves- 
sels depart  for  Lisbon  with  the  yearly  tribute  of  the 
Indies. 

After  his  death  everything  rapidly  declined. 
The  division  of  India  into  three  governments  again 
weakened  the  Portuguese  power.  At  the  death  of 
Sebastian,  and  his  successor,  the  Cardinal  Henri 
(1581),  Portuguese  India  followed  the  fate  of  Por- 
tugal, and  passed  into  the  unskilful  hands  of  the 
Spaniards  (1582),  until  the  period  that  the  Dutch 
came  to  divest  them  of  this  vast  empire. 


MODERN    HISTORY.  313 


CHAPTER  XV. 

DISCOVERY  OF  AMERICA — CONQUESTS  AND  ESTAB- 
LISHMENTS OF  THE  SPANIARDS  IN  THE  15TH 
AND  16TH  CENTURIES. 

"  ONE  of  the  most  wonderful  facts  in  regard  to 
our  globe  was,  that  one  half  of  its  inhabitants 
had  always  been  ignorant  of  the  other  half;  all 
which  had  before  appeared  grand  sinks  into  insig- 
nificance when  compared  with  this  species  of  new 
creation. 

"  Christopher  Columbus. — Columbus,  struck  with 
the  enterprises  of  the  Portuguese,  conceived  that 
one  might  do  something  even  greater,  and  from  only 
attentively  observing  a  map  of  the  globe,  he  judg- 
ed that  there  must  be  another  world,  and  that  he 
would  find  it  by  steering  continually  towards  the 
west.  His  courage  was  equal  to  the  force  of  his 
genius,  and  only  the  greater,  that  he  had  had  to  com- 
bat the  prejudices  of  all  the  princes.  Genoa,  his  na- 
tive city,  treated  him  as  a  visionary,  and  thus  lost 
the  only  opportunity  which  could  be  offered  for  its 
aggrandizement.  Henry'  VII.,  king  of  England, 
more  eager  for  money  than  capable  of  hazarding  it  in 
so  noble  an  enterprise,  would  not  listen  to  the  brother 
D  D 


314  SUMMARY     OF 

of  Columbus  ;  lie  was  himself  refused  by  John  II., 
of  Portugal,  whose  views  were  entirely  turned  to- 
wards the  coast  of  Africa.  He  could  not  address 
himself  to  France,  where  the  navy  was  always 
neglected,  and  where  affairs  were  more  than  ever, 
in  confusion,  under  the  minority  of  Charles  VIII  / 
The  Emperor  Maximilian  had  neither  ports  for  a 
fleet,  nor  money  to  equip  it.  Venice  might  have 
undertaken  it,  but,  whether  the  aversion  of  the  Gen- 
oese for  the  Venitians  did  not  permit  Columbus  to 
address  the  rival  of  his  country,  or  that  Venice 
could  imagine  no  grandeur  beyond  her  commerce 
with  Alexandria  and  the  Levant,  Columbus  had 
no  hope  left  but  in  the  court  of  Spain.  It  was, 
however,  only  after  eight  years  of  solicitation  that 
the  court  of  Isabella  accepted  the  advantages  which 
the  citizen  of  Genoa  desired  to  bring  her.  The 
court  of  Spain  was  poor  ;  the  Prior  Perez,  and  two 
merchants,  named  Pinzone,  advanced  17,000  duc- 
ats for  the  expenses  of  the  fleet.  Columbus  had  a 
patent  from  the  court,  and  finally  departed  from  the 
port  of  Palos,  in  Andalusia,  with  three  small  ves- 
sels, and  the  empty  title  of  admiral. 

"Discovery  of  America,  1492 — Second  Voyage, 
1493. — Thirty-three  days  from  the  Canary  Islands, 
where  he  took  in  water,  he  discovered  the  first 
island  of  America  (October  12th,  1492),  and  during 
this  short  passage  he  suffered  more  from  the  mur- 


MODERN    HISTORY.  315 

murs  of  his  crew  than  he  had  endured  from  the  re- 
buffs of  the  princes  of  Europe.  This  island,  situ- 
ated about  a  thousand  leagues  from  the  Canaries, 
was  named  St.  Salvador.  He  soon  after  discover- 
ed the  other  Bahama  Islands,  Cuba,  and  Hispanio- 
la,  which  latter  is  now  called  St.  Domingo.  Great 
was  the  surprise  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  when 
they  beheld  Columbus,  at  the  end  of  seven  months, 
returning  with  Americans  of  Hispaniola,  with  cu 
riosities  of  the  country,  and,  above  all,  with  gold, 
which  he  presented  to  them.  The  king  and  queen 
made  him  sit  down,  wearing  his  hat,  as  a  grandee 
of  Spain,  and  they  conferred  on  him  the  title  of 
the  First  Admiral  and  Viceroy  of  the  New  World. 
He  was  everywhere  regarded  as  a  peculiar  being, 
sent  from  heaven.  It  was  the  same  with  all  who 
had  embarked  under  his  orders.  He  again  depart- 
ed with  a  fleet  of  seventeen  vessels  (1493),  and 
discovered  the  Antilles  and  Jamaica.  The  doubts 
and  fears  which  his  enterprise  had  excited  were 
changed  into  admiration  after  the  success  of  his 
first  voyage,  but  that  admiration  became  an  envi- 
ous jealousy  in  the  course  of  his  second. 

"  He  was  an  admiral  and  a  viceroy,  and  he 
might  also  add  to  these  titles  that  of  benefactor  of 
Ferdinand  and  Isabella  ;  and  yet,  judges  sent  in  his 
own.  vessels  to  watch  over  his  conduct,  brought 


316  SUMMARY    OF 

him  back  a  prisoner  to  Spain;  the  people,  who 
heard  that  Columbus  had  arrived,  ran  to  meet  him, 
as  the  tutelary  genius  of  their  country.  They  led 
Columbus  from  the  vessel — he  appeared  before 
them — but  it  was  with  irons  on  his  hands  and  on 
his  feet. 

"  Third  Voyage,  1498. — This  cruel  treatment  was 
inflicted  by  order  of  Fonseca,  bishop  of  Burgos, 
and  superintendent  of  the  armament.  The  ingrat- 
itude was  as  great  as  the  services  were  memora- 
ble. Isabella  was  scandalized  at  it :  she^  repaired 
this  insult  as  well  as  she  was  able  ;  but  they  re- 
tained Columbus  four  years,  either  from  fear  that 
he  might  appropriate  to  himself  that  which  he  had 
discovered,  or  that  they  only  wished  to  obtain  time 
to  inform  themselves  of  his  conduct.  Finally,  they 
sent  him  back  to  the  New  World  (1498).  It  was 
on  this  third  voyage  that  he  perceived  the  conti- 
nent at  ten  degrees  from  the  equator,  and  that  he 
saw  the  coast  where  they  have  since  built  Cartha- 
gena. 

"  America  Vespucci. — The  ashes  of  Columbus  are 
no  longer  interested  in  the  fame  which  he  enjoyed 
during  his  life,  of  having  doubled  the  works  of 
creation.  Yet  men  love  to  render  justice  to  the 
dead,  whether  it  is  that  they  flatter  themselves  with 
the  hope  that  thereby  it  will  be  the  better  rendered 
to  the  living,  or  that  they  naturally  love  the  truth. 


MODERN    HISTORY.  317 

Americo  Vespucci,  a  merchant  of  Florence,  has 
enjoyed  the  glory  of  giving  his  name  to  the  new 
half  of  the  globe,  in  which  he  did  not  possess  an 
inch  of  ground  ;  he  pretended  to  have  first  discov- 
ered America.  Were  it  true  that  he  had  made 
that  discovery,  the  glory  of  it  would  not  be  his  ;  it 
appertains  incontestably  to  him  who  had  the  genius 
and  the  courage  to  undertake  the  first  voyage." — 
Voltaire. 

The  Spaniards  at  the  Antilles  —  Las  Casas. — 
While  daring  navigators  pursued  the  work  of  Co- 
lumbus, and  the  Portuguese  and  English  discov- 
er North  America,  and  while  Balboa  perceives 
from  the  heights  of  Panama  the  Southern  Ocean 
(1513),  the  blind  cupidity  of  the  Spanish  colonists 
depopulate  the  Antilles.  These  first  conquerors 
of  the  New  World  were  the  refuse  of  the  Old. 
Adventurers,  impatient  to  return  to  their  own  coun- 
try, could  not  await  the  slow  returns  from  agricul- 
ture or  from  industry.  They  knew  no  other  riches 
than  gold.  This  error  cost  America  ten  millions 
'of  men.  The  feeble  and  effeminate  race  which  in- 
habited the  country  soon  succumbed  under  their 
excessive  and  unhealthy  labours.  The  population 
of  Hispaniola  was  reduced,  in  1507,  from  a  million 
of  people  to  sixty  thousand.  Notwithstanding  the 
benevolent  orders  of  Isabella,  notwithstanding  the 
efforts  of  Ximenes,  and  the  pathetic  remonstrances 
D  D2 


318  SUMMARY    OF 

of  the  Dominican  monks,  the  depopulation  spread 
itself  between  the  tropics.  No  voice  was  raised 
in  favour  of  the  Americans  more  courageously,  nor 
with  more  firmness,  than  the  voice  of  the  celebra- 
ted Bartholomew  de  Las  Casas,  bishop  of  Chiapa, 
the  protector  of  the  Indians.  Twice  he  went  to  Eu- 
rope to  plead  their  cause  solemnly  before  Charles 
V.  It  is  heart-breaking  to  read  in  his  Destruction 
de  las  Indias  of  the  barbarous  treatment  which  those 
unfortunate  beings  suffered. 

Ferdinand  Cortez. — We  hardly  know  whether 
to  admire  the  bravery  of  the  conquerors  of  Ameri- 
ca or  to  detest  their  ferocity.  They  had  in  four 
expeditions  discovered  the  coasts  of  Florida,  Yu- 
catan, and  Mexico,  when  Ferdinand  Cortez  left 
the  island  of  Cuba  for  new  expeditions  on  the 
Continent  (1519).  "  This  simple  lieutenant  of  the 
governor  of  a  newly-discovered  island,  followed  by 
less  than  six  hundred  persons,  having  only  eigh- 
teen horses  and  a  few  pieces  of  cannon,  went  to 
subjugate  the  most  powerful  nation  of  America. 
At  first  he  was  happy  enough  to  find  a  Spaniard 
who  had  been  for  nine  years  prisoner  at  Yucatan, 
on  the  road  to  Mexico ;  he  served  him  as  inter- 
preter. Cortez  advanced  along  the  Gulf  of  Mexi- 
co, sometimes  caressing  the  natives  of  the  coun- 
try, sometimes  making  war  upon  them.  He  found 
cultivated  cities  where  the  arts  were  honoured. 


MODERN   HISTORY.  319 

The  powerful  republic  of  Tlascala,  wltfch  flourished 
under  an  aristocratic  government,  opposed  his  pas- 
sage ;  but  the  sight  of  the  horses,  and  the  sound 
of  a  single  cannon,  put  these  badly-armed  multi- 
tudes to  flight.  He  made  a  peace  as  advantageous 
as  he  desired ;  six  thousand  of  his  new  allies  of 
Tlascala  accompanied  him  on  his  way  to  Mex- 
ico. He  entered  that  empire  without  resistance, 
in  spite  of  the  fortifications  of  its  sovereign ;  this 
sovereign  commanded  thirty  vassals,  each  of  whom 
could  appear  at  the  head  of  one  hundred  thousand 
men,  armed  with  arrows  and  sharp  stones,  which 
served  them  instead  of  iron. 

"  Mexico. — The  city  of  Mexico,  built  in  the  mid- 
dle of  a  great  lake,  was  the  finest  monument  of 
American  industry ;  immense  causeways  crossed 
the  lake,  and  it  was  covered  with  little  barges,  made 
from  the  trunks  of  trees.  In  the  city  were  spacious 
and  commodious  houses,  constructed  of  stone  ;  mar- 
kets ;  shops  which  shone  with  works  of  gold  and  sil- 
ver, engraved  and  carved ;  varnished  earthenware  ; 
stuffs  of  cotton  and  feathers,  which  formed  designs, 
made  brilliant  by  the  most  vivid  colours.  Near  the 
great  market  was  a  palace,  where  summary  justice 
was  administered  to  the  tradesmen.  Several  pala- 
ces of  the  emperor,  Montezuma,  increased  the  mag- 
nificence of  the  city ;  one  of  them  was  surrounded 
by  gardens,  where  they  cultivated  only  medical 


320  SUMMARY   OF 

plants ;  superintendents  distributed  them  gratui- 
tously to  the  sick ;  they  gave  an  account  to  the 
king  of  the  success  attending  their  use,  and  the 
physicians  kept  a  register  thereof,  in  their  manner, 
without  knowing  how  to  write.  The  other  spe- 
cies of  magnificence  only  indicated  the  progress 
of  the  arts ;  this  last  shows  the  progress  of  mor- 
als. If  human  nature  did  not  unite  good  and 
evil,  one  would  not  be  able  to  comprehend  how 
this  morality  could  be  reconciled  with  human  sac- 
rifices, the  blood  of  which  flowed  before  the  idol 
Visiliputsli,  who  was  regarded  as  the  god  of  the 
armies.  The  ambassadors  of  Montezuma  said  to 
Cortez  (if  we  may  believe  the  latter)  that  their 
master  had  sacrificed  in  his  wars  near  twenty  thou- 
sand enemies  each  year  in  the  great  temple  of 
Mexico.  This  is,  perhaps,  an  exaggeration;  the 
reporter  may  have  wished  to  excuse  in  this  way 
the  cruel  injustice  of  the  conqueror  of  Montezuma ; 
but  afterward,  when  the  Spaniards  entered  the 
temple,  they  found  among  its  ornaments  human 
sculls  suspended  as  trophies.  Their  police,  in 
every  other  respect,  was  humane  and  wise :  the 
education  of  youth  formed  one  of  the  great  objects 
of  the  government.  There  were  public  schools 
established  for  both  sexes.  We  still  admire  the  an- 
cient Egyptians  for  having  known  the  year  to  con- 
tain about  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  days.  The 


MODERN    HISTORY.  321 

Mexicans  had  carried  their  astronomy  as  far.  War 
was  among  them  reduced  to  an  art ;  it  was  this 
which  had  given  them  such  superiority  over  their 
neighbours.  Great  order  in  their  finances  main- 
tained the  grandeur  of  an  empire,  which  was  re- 
garded by  its  neighbours  with  fear  and  envy. 

"  Reception  of  the  Spaniards. — But  those  warlike 
animals  on  which  the  principal  Spaniards  were 
mounted,  that  artificial  thunder  which  was  formed 
in  their  hands,  those  wooden  castles  which  had 
brought  them  over  the  ocean,  the  iron  with  which 
they  were  covered,  and  their  marches,  reckoned  by 
their  victories,  all  were  so  many  subjects  for  admi- 
ration, and  added  to  that  weakness  of  human  na- 
ture which  is  so  attracted  by  novelty,  they  caused 
Cortez  to  be  received  in  the  city  of  Mexico  by 
Montezuma  as  his  master,  and  by  the  inhabitants 
as  their  god.  They  threw  themselves  on  their 
knees  in  the  street  when  a  Spanish  servant  pass- 
ed. It  is  related  that  a  cacique  of  the  district 
through  which  a  Spanish  captain  passed  offered 
him  slaves  and  game.  '  If  thou  art  God,'  says  he, 
*  there  are  men,  eat  them ;  if  thou  art  man,  there 
are  provisions,  which  these  slaves  shall  prepare 
for  thee.' 

"  Montezuma. — By  degrees,  the  court  of  Monte- 
zuma, growing  familiar  with  their  guests,  ventured 
to  treat  them  as  men.  A  part  of  the  Spaniards  were 


322  SUMMARY    OF 

at  Vera  Cruz,  on  their  road  to  Mexico ;  a  general 
of  the  emperor,  who  had  secret  orders,  attacked 
them,  and  although  his  troops  were  conquered, 
there  were  three  or  four  Spaniards  among  the  kill- 
ed ;  the  head  of  one  of  them  was  even  carried  to 
Montezuma.  Cortez  then  performed  the  most  da- 
ring, as  well  as  the  most  guilty  act  of  his  life :  he 
went  to  the  palace,  followed  by  fifty  Spaniards,  led 
the  emperor  prisoner  to  the  Spanish  quarters,  for- 
ced him  to  give  up  those  who  had  attacked  his 
men  at  Vera  Cruz,  and  had  irons  placed  on  the 
hands  and  feet  of  the  emperor  himself,  as  a  general 
would  punish  a  common  soldier;  finally,  he  compel- 
led him  publicly  to  acknowledge  himself  vassal  of 
Charles  V.  Montezuma  and  the  principal  men  of 
his  empire  gave,  as  a  tribute  incident  to  this  hom- 
age, six  hundred  thousand  marks  of  pure  gold, 
with  an  incredible  quantity  of  jewels  and  works 
of  gold,  and  of  whatever  was  most  rare  in  the  fab- 
rics of  several  centuries.  Cortez  destined  one  fifth 
for  his  master,  took  one  fifth  for  himself,  and  dis- 
tributed the  rest  among  his  soldiers. 

"  We  may  count  it  among  the  greatest  of  prodigies, 
that  while  the  conquerors  of  this  New  World  were 
at  war  among  themselves,  their  conquests  did  not 
suffer.  Never  was  truth  less  like  truth ;  while 
Cortez  was  on  the  point  of  subjecting  the  Empire  of 
Mexico  with  500  men  who  remained  to  him,  the 


MODERN    HISTORY.  323 

Governor  of  Cuba,  Velasquez,  more  offended  at 
the  glory  of  Cortez,  his  lieutenant,  than  at  his  dis- 
obedience, sent  nearly  all  his  troops,  which  con- 
sisted of  eight  hundred  foot-soldiers,  eighty  horse- 
men, well  mounted,  and  two  small  pieces  of  can- 
non, to  reduce  Cortez,  to  take  him  prisoner,  and 
to  follow  out  the  course  of  his  victories.  Cortez, 
having  on  the  one  side  to  fight  a  thousand  Span- 
iards, and  on  the  other  to  hold  the  Continent  in 
submission,  left  eighty  men  to  be  responsible  to 
him  for  all  Mexico,  and  marched,  followed  by  the 
rest,  against  his  compatriots ;  he  defeated  a  part 
of  them,  and  gained  over  the  rest.  In  short,  this 
army,  which  came  to  destroy  him,  ranged  itself 
under  his  banner,  and  he  returned  to  Mexico  with  it. 
"  The  emperor  was  constantly  in  prison  in  his 
capital,  guarded  by  eighty  soldiers ;  he  who  com- 
manded them,  on  a  true  or  false  report  that  the 
Mexicans  were  conspiring  to  deliver  their  master, 
had  seized  the  opportunity  of  a  feast,  when  two 
thousand  of  the  first  lords  were  completely  intoxi- 
cated by  their  strong  liquors  ;  he  fell  on  them  with 
fifty  soldiers,  killed  them  and  their  suite  without  re-/ 
sistance,  and  robbed  them  of  all  the  gold  ornaments* 
and  jewels  with  which  they  had  decorated  them- 
selves for  this  feast.  This  enormity,  which  all  the 
people  attributed,  with  reason,  to  the  fury  of  ava- 
rice, exasperated  these  men,  heretofore  too  patient ; 


324  SUMMARY    OF 

and  when  Cortez  arrived,  he  found  200,000  Ameri- 
cans in  arms  against  eighty  Spaniards,  who  were  oc- 
cupied with  defending  themselves  and  guarding  the 
king.  They  besieged  Cortez,  to  deliver  their  king ; 
they  precipitated  themselves  in  crowds  on  the  can- 
nons and  muskets.  The  Spaniards  were  fatigued 
with  firing  on  them,  and  the  Americans  followed 
each  other  in  crowds,  without  being  discouraged. 
Cortez  was  obliged  to  leave  the  city,  where  he  would 
have  been  starved ;  but  the  Mexicans  had  broken 
all  the  causeways ;  the  Spaniards  made  bridges 
with  the  bodies  of  their  enemies ;  in  their  bloody 
retreat,  they  lost  all  the  treasures  which  they  had 
seized  for  Charles  V.  and  themselves ;  victorious 
in  the  bloody  battle  of  Otumba,  Cortez  undertook 
to  lay  siege  to  that  immense  city.  He  caused 
more  vessels  to  be  built  by  his  soldiers  and  by  the 
Tlascalians,  whom  he  had  with  him,  that  he  might 
re-enter  Mexico  by  the  lake  itself,  which  seemed 
to  forbid  his  entrance.  The  Mexicans  feared  not 
a  naval  battle ;  four  or  five  thousand  canoes,  each 
one  laden  with  two  men,  covered  the  lake,  and 
came  to  attack  the  nine  vessels  of  Cortez,  on 
which  he  had  about  300  men.  These  nine  brigan- 
tines,  which  had  cannons,  soon  overthrew  the  fleet 
of  the  enemy.  Cortez,  with  the  rest  of  his  troops, 
fought  on  the  causeways.  Seven  or  eight  cap- 
tured Spaniards  were  sacrificed  in  the  temple  of 


MODERN    HISTORY.  325 

Mexico.  But,  finally,  after  new  combats,  they 
took  the  new  emperor.  It  was  Gatimozin,  so 
famous  for  the  words  which  he  pronounced  when 
a  receiver  of  the  treasures  of  the  King  of  Spain 
had  him  placed  on  burning  charcoal,  to  know  in 
what  part  of  the  lake  he  had  thrown  his  riches  ; 
his  grand  priest,  condemned  to  the  same  punish- 
ment, uttered  cries  :  Gatimozin  said  to  him,  *  And 
I,  am  I  on  a  bed  of  roses  V 

"  Taking  of  Mexico,  1521. — Cortez  was  absolute 
master  of  the  city  of  Mexico  (1521),  with  which 
all  the  rest  of  the  Empire  fell  under  the  Spanish 
dominion,  as  also  Castille  d'Or,  Darien,  and  all 
the  neighbouring  countries.  What  was  the  reward 
of  the  wonderful  services  of  Cortez  ?  That  of  Co- 
lumbus— he  was  persecuted.  Notwithstanding  the 
titles  with  which  he  was  decorated  in  his  native 
country,  he  was  little  respected  there ;  he  could 
hardly  obtain  an  audience  of  Charles  V.  One  day 
he  pushed  through  the  crowd  which  surrounded 
the  coach  of  the  emperor,  and  stepped  on  the  step 
of  the  door.  Charles  asked  who  this  man  was. 
1  It  is  he,'  replied  Cortez,  '  who  has  given  you 
more  kingdoms  than  your  ancestors  have  left  you 
cities.' 

"  Peru. — In  the  mean  time,  the  Spaniards  sought 
for  new  countries  to  conquer  and  depopulate.  Ma- 
gelhaens  (Magellan)  had  gone  round  South  Ameri- 
EE 


326  SUMMARY    OP 

ca,  traversed  the  Pacific  Ocean,  and  was  the  first  to 
circumnavigate  the  globe.  But  the  greatest  Ameri- 
can nation,  next  to  Mexico,  yet  remained  to  be  dis- 
covered. One  day,  when  the  Spaniards  weighed 
some  pieces  of  gold,  an  Indian,  turning  the  scales 
upside  down,  said  to  them  that  at  six  days'  journey 
towards  the  south  they  would  find  a  country  where 
gold  was  so  common  that  they  used  it  for  the  most 
common  purposes.  Two  adventurers,  Pizarro  and 
Almagro,  a  foundling  and  a  swineherd,  who  had 
become  soldiers,  undertook  the  discovery  and  the 
conquest  of  these  vast  countries,  which  the  Span- 
iards have  distinguished  by  the  name  of  Peru. 

"  From  the  country  of  Cusco  and  the  neighbour- 
hood of  the  tropic  of  Capricorn,  to  the  height  of 
the  Isle  of  Pearls,  a  simple  king  stretched  his  ab- 
solute dominion  over  a  space  of  nearly  thirty  de- 
grees ;  he  was  of  a  race  of  conquerors  which  they 
called  Incas.  The  first  of  these  Incas,  who  had 
subjected  the  country  and  imposed  laws  upon  it, 
passed  as  the  son  of  the  sun.  The  Peruvians 
transmitted  important  facts  to  posterity  by  knotted 
cords.  They  had  obelisks,  regular  dials  to  mark  the 
points  of  equinoxes  and  solstices.  Their  year  had 
365  days.  They  had  raised  prodigies  of  architec- 
ture, and  cut  statues  with  a  surprising  skill.  This 
was  the  best  governed  and  most  industrious  na- 
tion of  the  New  World. 


MODERN    HISTORY.  327 

"  The  Inca  Huescar,*  father  of  Atabalipa,  the  last 
Inca,  under  whom  this  vast  empire  was  destroyed, 
had  increased  and  embellished  it  much.  This  in- 
ca,  who  conquered  all  the  country  of  Quito,  had 
made,  by  the  hands  of  his  soldiers  and  conquered 
people,  a  grand  road  of  five  hundred  leagues,  from 
Cusco  to  Quito,  over  valleys  filled  up,  precipices 
and  mountains  levelled.  Relays  of  men,  establish- 
ed every  half  league,  carried  the  orders  of  the  mon- 
arch over  all  his  vast  empire.  Such  was  its  police  ; 
and  if  one  would  judge  of  its  magnificence,  it  is  suf- 
ficient to  say  that  the  king  was  carried  in  his  jour- 
neys on  a  throne  of  solid  gold,  which  was  found  to 
weigh  twenty-five  thousand  ducats,  and  that  the  lit- 
ter, composed  of  bars  of  gold,  on  which  was  the 
throne,  was  borne  by  the  highest  personages  of  the 
kingdom. 

"  Pizarro,  1552. —  Pizarro  attacked  this  empire 
with  two  hundred  and  fifty  foot-soldiers,  sixty  horse- 
men, and  twelve  small  cannon.  He  arrived  through 
the  South  Sea  on  the  heights  of  Quito,  beyond  the 
equator.  Atabalipa,  son  of  Huana,  reigned  at 
that  time  (1532) ;  he  was  at  Quito  with  about 
forty  thousand  soldiers,  armed  with  arrows  and 
pikes  of  gold  and  silver.  Pizarro,  like  Cortez, 
commenced  by  offering  the  friendship  of  Charles 
V.  to  the  Inca.  When  the  army  of  the  Inca  and 

*  More  properly  Huana.    Huascar  was  the  brother  of  Atabalipa.— 
Bee  Robertson's  America.— Tr. 


328  SUMMARY    OF 

the  feeble  Castilian  troops  were  in  presence  of  each 
other,  the  Spaniards  were  willing  to  give  the  colour 
of  religion  to  their  cause.  A  monk,  named  Val- 
verde,  advances  with  an  interpreter  towards  the 
Inca,  a  Bible  in  his  hand,  and  says  to  him  that  he 
must  believe  all  this  book  says.  The  Inca,  ap- 
proaching it  with  his  ear,  and  hearing  nothing,  threw 
it  on  the  ground,  and  the  combat  commenced. 

"  The  cannon,  the  horses,  and  arms  of  iron  had 
the  same  effect  on  the  Peruvians  as  on  the  Mexi- 
cans ;  they  took  but  little  pains  to  kill  them ;  and 
Atabalipa,  dragged  from  his  throne  of  gold  by  the 
conquerors,  was  loaded  with  irons.  To  procure  a 
speedy  liberation,  he  obliged  himself  to  give  as 
much  gold  as  one  of  the  saloons  of  his  palace 
could  contain  as  high  as  his  hand,  which  he  raised 
above  his  head.  Each  Spanish  cavalier  had  240 
marks  in  pure  gold  ;  each  foot-soldier  160.  They 
divided  about  ten  times  as  much  silver  in  the  same 
proportion.  The  officers  had  immense  riches  ;  and 
they  sent  to  Charles  V.  30,000  marks  of  silver, 
3000  of  unwrought  gold,  and  20,000  marks  of 
heavy  silver,  with  2000  of  gold  coin  of  the  coun- 
try. The  unfortunate  Atabalipa  was,  nevertheless, 
put  to  death. 

"  Diego  of  Almagro  marched  to  Cusco,  making 
a  road  through  multitudes  of  human  beings.  He 
penetrated  into  Chili.  Everywhere  they  took  pos- 
session in  the  name  of  Charles  V.  Soon  after, 


MODERN   HISTORY.  329 

discord  embroiled  the  conquerors  of  Peru,  as  it 
had  divided  Velasquez  and  Ferdinand  Cortez  in 
Northern  America. 

"  Civil  Wars. — Almagro  and  the  brothers  of  Pi- 
zarro  commenced  the  civil  war  in  Cusco  itself,  the 
capital  of  the  Incas ;  all  the  recruits  which  they 
had  received  from  Europe  divided  themselves,  and 
they  fought  for  the  chief  whom  they  chose.  They 
had  a  bloody  battle  under  the  walls  of  Cusco  with- 
out the  Peruvians  venturing  to  profit  by  the  weak- 
ness of  their  common  enemy.  Finally,  Almagro 
was  made  prisoner,  and  his  rival  had  him  behead- 
ed ;  but  soon  after  he  himself  was  killed  by  the 
friends  of  Almagro. 

"  Already  the  Spanish  government  had  been  or- 
ganized in  all  the  New  World  ;  the  great  provinces 
had  their  governors  ;  tribunals,  called  Audiences, 
were  established ;  archbishops,  bishops,  tribunals 
of  inquisition,  all  the  ecclesiastical  hierarchy,  exer- 
cised their  duties  as  at  Madrid,  when  the  captains 
who  had  conquered  Peru  for  the  emperor,  Charles 
V.,  wished  to  take  it  for  themselves.  A  son  of 
Almagro  had  himself  acknowledged  governor  of 
Peru ;  but  the  other  Spaniards,  choosing  to  obey 
masters  who  resided  in  Europe  in  preference  to 
their  companion,  who  had  become  a  sovereign,  had 
him  put  to  death  by  the  hand  of  a  hangman." — 
Voltaire. 

EE2 


330  SUMMARY    OF 

A  new  civil  war  was  stifled  in  the  same  man- 
ner. Charles  V.,  finally  yielding  to  the  remon- 
strances of  Las  Casas,  had  to  guaranty  personal 
liberty  to  the  Indians,  by  determining  the  tributes 
and  services  to  which  they  should  be  subjected 
(1542). 

The  Spanish  colonies  took  up  arms  and  declared 
themselves  for  the  chief  Gonzalo  Pizarro.  But 
the  name  of  the  king  was  so  respected  that  it  was 
sufficient  to  restore  order  to  send  an  old  man,  an 
inquisitor  (Pedro  de  la  Gasca).  He  gathered 
round  him  the  greater  part  of  the  Spaniards ;  he 
gained  over  some,  overthrew  the  others,  and  se- 
cured to  Spain  the  possession  of  Peru  (1546). 

Spanish  Empire  in  America  —  Outline  of  the 
Spanish  Empire  in  America. — If  we  except  Mexi- 
co and  Peru,  Spain,  in  reality,  only  possessed  the 
coasts.  The  people  of  the  interior  could  be  sub- 
jected only  as  they  were  converted  by  missions, 
and  attached  to  the  soil  by  civilization. 

Discoveries  and  Different  Establishments,  1540. 
— Expedition  of  Gonzalo  Pizarro  to  discover  the 
land  east  of  the  Andes  ;  Orellana  traverses  South 
America  by  a  voyage  of  2000  leagues.  Establish- 
ments :  1527,  the  province  of  Venezuela ;  1535, 
Buenos  Ayres  ;  1536,  province  of  Grenada  ;  1540, 
St.  Jago ;  1550,  Conception  ;  1555,  Carthagena  and 
Porto-Bello ;  1567,  Caraccas. 


MODERN    HISTORY.  331 

Administration. — Political  government :  in  Spain, 
Council  of  the  Indies  and  Court  of  Commerce  and 
Justice ;  in  America,  two  viceroys,  audiences, 
municipalities.  Caciques  and  protectors  of  the  In- 
dians. Ecclesiastical  government  (entirely  depend- 
ant on  the  king)  :  archbishops,  bishops,  cures,  or 
teachers,  missionaries,  monks  $  Inquisition  estab- 
lished in  1570  by  Philip  II. 

Commercial  Administration — Monopoly. — Privi- 
leged ports  in  America,  Vera  Cruz,  Carthagena, 
and  Porto-Bello  ;  in  Europe,  Seville  (later,  Cadiz) ; 
fleet  and  galleons.  Agriculture  and  manufactures 
are  neglected  in  Spain  and  in  America,  for  the 
exploring  of  the  mines ;  slow  increase  of  the 
colonies,  and  ruin  of  the  metropolis  before  1600. 
But  in  the  course  of  the  sixteenth  century,  the 
enormous  quantity  of  precious  metals  which  Spain 
must  draw  from  America  contributes  to  make  her 
the  preponderating  power  of  Europe. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

LITERATURE ARTS    AND    SCIENCES    IN    THE    SIX- 
TEENTH   CENTURY LEO   X.  AND  FRANCIS   I. 

THE  fifteenth  century  had  been  an  age  of  learn- 
ing; enthusiasm  for  antiquity  had  caused  the  path 
so  happily  opened  by  Dante,  Boccacio,  and  Pe- 


332  SUMMARY  OP 

trarch  to  be  abandoned.  In  the  sixteenth  century 
modern  genius  is  brilliant  with  a  new  effulgence, 
never  to  be  extinguished. 

The  march  of  mind  at  this  epoch  presents  two 
very  distinct  movements  :  the  first,  favoured  by  the 
influence  of  Leo  X.  and  Francis  L,  belongs  to 
Italy  and  France  ;  the  second  is  European.  The 
former,  characterized  by  the  progress  of  literature 
and  arts,  is  arrested  in  France  by  civil  wars,  and 
retarded  in  Italy  by  foreign  wars :  in  Italy  the 
genius  of  literature  is  extinguished  under  the  yoke 
of  the  Spaniards  ;  but  the  impulse  given  to  the  arts 
prolongs  itself  to  the  middle  of  the  following  cen- 
tury. The  second  movement  is  the  development 
of  a  daring  spirit  of  doubt  and  of  examination.  In 
the  seventeenth  century  it  was  partly  arrested  by 
a  return  to  religious  creeds,  partly  turned  towards 
the  natural  sciences,  but  it  will  reappear  in  the 
eighteenth. 

§    I.   LITERATURE   AND    ARTS. 

Independently  of  the  general  causes  which  have 
produced  the  regeneration  of  literature,  such  as  the 
progress  of  security  and  wealth,  the  discovery  of 
the  monuments  of  antiquity,  &c.,  &c.,  several  par- 
ticular causes  have  given  it  a  new  energy  with  the 
Italians  of  the  sixteenth  century :  1st.  Books 
have  become  plenty,  thanks  to  the  progress  of 
printing;  2d.  The  Italian  nation,  being  no  more 


MODERN    HISTORY.  333 

able  to  control  her  destiny,  seeks  consolation  in 
intellectual  and  literary  enjoyments  ;  a  number  of 
princes,  and  especially  the  Medici,  encourage 
scholars  and  artists  ;  illustrious  writers  profit  less 
by  this  patronage. 

Italy  —  Poetry.  —  Poetry,  which,  with  the  arts, 
forms  the  principal  glory  of  Italy  in  the  sixteenth 
century,  unites  taste  and  genius  in  the  first  part  of 
this  period.  The  epic  muse  raises  two  immortal 
monuments.  Comedy  and  tragedy  present  some 
essays,  in  truth,  not  above  mediocrity.  The  most 
opposite  styles  of  satire  and  pastoral  poetry  are 
cultivated.  It  is  especially  in  the  latter  that  we 
remark  the  rapid  decay  of  taste. 

Boi'ardo         died  in    1490  Trissino          died  in      1550 

Machiavel         "         1529  Tasso  "        1596 

Ariosto  "         1533  Guarini  "        1619 

Prose. — Eloquence,  the  slow  product  of  litera- 
ture, has  not  time  to  form  itself.  But  several  his- 
torians approach  the  style  of  antiquity. 

Machiavel      died  in  1529  Paul  Jove         died  in     1562 

Fr.  Guicciardini   "     1540  Baronius  "        1607 

Bembo  "    1547 

Learning. — The  ancient  languages  are  cultiva- 
ted much  more  than  in  the  preceding  age,  but  this 
glory  is  eclipsed  by  many  others. 

Pontanus          died  in  1503  Sadolet  died  in    1547 


Aldus  Manucius  "  1516  Fracastor 

John  Second  "  1523  J.  C.  Scaliger 

Sannazar  "  1530  Vida 

A.  J.  Lascaris  "  1535  P.  Manutius 

Bembo  "  1547  Aldus  Manutius 


1553 
1558 
1563 
1574 
1597 


334 


SUMMARY    OF 


lin  1511 

Primatice             died  in  1564 

1514 

Palladio 

1568 

1520 

Titian 

1576 

1518 

Veronese 

1588 

1534 

Tintoret 

1594 

1534 

Augustm  Carrache 

1601 

1546 

Caravage 

1609 

1564 

Hannibal  Carrache 

1609 

1564 

Louis  Carrache 

1619 

Arts. — Superiority  in  the  arts  in  Italy  is  the 
characteristic  trait  of  the  sixteenth  century.  The 
ancients  remain  without  rivals  in  sculpture  ;  but 
the  moderns  equal  them  in  architecture,  and  in 
painting  they  perhaps  surpass  them.  The  Roman 
school  excels  in  perfection  of  design,  the  Veni- 
tian  in  beauty  of  colouring. 

Giorgione         did 
Bramante 
Leonardo  de  Vinci 
Raphael 
Corregio 
Parmesair 
Jules  Remain 
Michael  Angelo 
John  Udino 

France. — France  followed  Italy  at  a  distance. 
The  historian  Comines  died  in  1509.  Francis  I. 
founds  the  College  of  France  and  the  royal  print- 
ing-press. He  encourages  the  poet  Marot  (1544), 
and  the  brothers  Du  Bellay  (1543,  1560),  negoti- 
ators and  historians.  His  sister,  Margaret  of  Na- 
varre ( 1 549),  cultivates  literature  herself.  Francis 
I.  distinguishes  Titian,  draws  Primatice  and  Leo- 
nardo de  Vinci  into  France.  He  builds  Fontaine- 
bleau,  St.  Germain,  Chambord,  and  commences 
the  Louvre.  Under  him  flourished  John  Cousin 
(1589),  designer  and  painter ;  Germain  Pilon, 
Philibert  de  1'Orme,  John  Goujon  (1572),  sculp- 
tors and  architects ;  the  scholars,  William  Bu- 


MODERN    HISTORY.  335 

daeus  (1540),  Turnebe  (1563),  Muret  (1585), 
Henry  Stephens  (1598),  a  celebrated  printer; 
finally,  the  celebrated  lawyers  Dumoulin  (1566) 
and  Cujacius  (1590).  After  the  reign  of  Francis 
I.,  the  poet  Ronsard  (1585)  enjoyed  a  brief  repu- 
tation ;  but  Montaigne  (1592),  Amyot  (1593),  and 
the  Satire  Menippee,  gave  a  new  character  to  the 
French  language. 

Germany,  Spain,  &c.,  &c. — The  other  countries 
are  not  so  rich  in  eminent  talents.  Yet  Ger- 
many boasts  her  Luther,  the  shoemaker  poet,  Hans 
Sachs,  and  the  painters  Albert  Durer  and  Lucas 
Cranach.  Portugal  and  Spain  have  their  illus- 
trious writers — Camoens,  Lope  de  Vega,  and  Cer- 
vantes ;  the  Netherlands  and  Scotland  their  men  of 
letters  and  their  historians — Justus  Lipsius  (1616) 
and  Buchanan  (1582).  Among  the  forty-three 
universities  founded  in  the  sixteenth  century,  four- 
teen were  established  by  the  kings  of  Spain  alone, 
ten  of  them  by  Charles  V. 

§    II.    PHILOSOPHY    AND    SCIENCE. 

Philosophy. — Philosophy,  in  the  preceding  cen- 
tury, was  cultivated  only  by  the  learned.  It  was 
limited  to  attacking  the  school  divinity,  and  oppo- 
sing Platonism  to  it.  By  degrees,  impelled  by  a 
more  rapid  movement,  it  extends  its  examination 
to  every  subject.  But  the  human  mind  then  sought 
after  knowledge  at  hazard  ;  there  was  no  method, 


336  SUMMARY    OF 

and  too  little  observation.    Many  learned  men  were 
discouraged,  and  became  the  most  daring  skeptics. 

Erasmus  died  in   1533  Montaigne  died  in  1592 

Viv6s  "  1540  G.Bruno        "        1600 

Rabelais  "  1553  Charron         "        1603 

Cardan  "  1576  Bcehmen         "        1624 

Telesio  "  1588  Campanella  "        1639 

Politics.  —  The  theory  of  politics  began  with 
Machiavel ;  but  at  the  commencement  of  the  six- 
teenth century,  the  Italians  had  not  made  progress 
enough  in  this  science  to  perceive  that  it  accorded 
with  morality. 

Machiavel  died  in  1529  Bodin    died     in     1596 

Thomas  More     "  1533 

Natural  Sciences.— The  natural  sciences  leave 
chimerical  systems  to  enter  upon  the  path  of  ob- 
servation and  experience. 

Paracelsus  died  in  1541  Gesner  died   in  1565 

Copernicus      "      1543  Pare  "  1592 

Fallopius         "      1562  Vieta  "  1603 

Vesalius          "      1564  VanHelmont "  1644 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

TROUBLES  AT  THE  COMMENCEMENT  OF   THE  REIfrN 
OF    LOUIS    XIII. RICHELIEU,  1610-1643. 

THE  general  characteristic  of  the  seventeenth 
century  is  the  progress  both  of  royalty  and  of  the 
Tiers-Etat.*  The  progress  of  royalty  was  only 

*  ».  e.}  Third  Estate,  or  Common*. 


MODERN    HISTORY.  337 

suspended  twice,  i.  e.9  by  the  minorities  of  Louis 

XIII.  and  Louis  XIV.     The  Tiers-Etat  is  arrested 
only  towards  the  end  of  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV. 
At  this  period,  the  king,  having  for  a  long  time  had 
nothing  to  fear  from  the  nobility,  gave  up  the  ad- 
ministration to  them.     Hitherto  all  the  ministers, 
Concini,    Luynes,    Richelieu,    Mazarin,    Colbert, 
Louvois,  had  risen  from  the  plebeians,  or,  at  the 
most,  from  the  lowest  nobility.     Some  of  the  ad- 
mirals and  superior  officers  of  the  armies  of  Louis 

XIV.  belonged  to  the  lowest  ranks  of  the  people. 
In  the   first  part  of  this   century  political  ac- 
tion was,  as  it  were,  negative.     It   endeavoured 
to  overthrow  the  great  obstacles  to  monarchical 
centralization,  the  nobles  and  the  Protestants.     In 
the  second  half,  there  was  under  Colbert  an  effort 
at  legislative  organization ;  and,  above  all,  at  an 
administrative  one ;  productive  industry  was  more 
esteemed.      France    acts   powerfully  within    and 
without ;    she  produces,  she   wages  wars.      But 
production    keeps    not   pace    with    consumption. 
France  exhausts  herself  to  complete  her  territory, 
by  means   of  necessary  and  glorious   conquests. 
The  course  of  her  internal  prosperity  is  also  re- 
tarded by  the  extent  of  her  wars  and  conquest?:, 
and  by  an  aristocratical  reaction.     The  nobility 
seize  the   monarchical   power,  place  themselves 
everywhere   between   the   king  and   the   people, 

FF 


338  SUMMARY    OF 

and  communicate  to  royalty  their  own  decrepi- 
tude. 

Louis  XIII. — Mary  of  Medici  Regent — Concini. 
— Henry  IV.  found  great  difficulty  in  supporting 
himself  between  the  Protestants  and  Catholics. 
This  indecision  could  not  continue  after  his  death  ; 
one  side  had  to  be  chosen,  and  it  was  the  Protest- 
ant side.  The  great  war  of  Germany,  which  had 
commenced,  offered  to  the  King  of  France  the 
noble  post  of  chief  of  the  European  opposition 
against  the  house  of  Austria ;  the  post  which, 
twenty  years  later,  Gustavus  Adolphus  took.  The 
king  was  dead;  Louis  XIII.  an  infant,  Mary  of 
Medici,  the  regent,  and  Concini,  her  minister,  both 
Italians,  could  not  perpetuate  Henry  IV.  This 
child,  this  woman,  could  not  mount  on  horseback 
to  make  war  on  Austria.  Not  being  able  to 
fight  Austria,  it  was  necessary  to  have  her  for  a 
friend.  As  they  could  not  lead  the  nobles  and 
the  Protestants  in  Germany  on  a  Protestant  cru- 
sade, they  must,  if  possible,  gain  over  the  nobles 
and  weaken  the  Protestants.  This  policy  of  Con- 
cini, which  has  been  so  much  blamed  by  historians, 
received  its  justification  from  the  best  judge  on  this 
subject,  from  Richelieu  himself,  in  one  of  his 
writings.  The  nobles,  from  whom  Henry  IV.  had 
not  been  able  to  take  their  strongholds,  a  Conde, 
an  Epernon,  a  Bouillon,  a  Longueville,  found  them- 


MODERN    HISTORY.  339 

selves  all  armed  at  his  death  ;  they  exacted  money, 
and  it  was  necessary,  in  order  to  avoid  a  civil  war, 
to  deliver  the  treasury  of  Henry  IV.  to  them  (twelve 
millions,  and  not  thirty,  according  to  Richelieu). 
Then  they  demanded  the  States-General  (1614). 
These  states  doing  nothing,  did  not  answer  the 
expectation  of  the  nobles  ;  they  showed  themselves 
devoted  to  the  crown ;  the  Tiers-Etat  claimed  a 
declaration  of  independence  from  the  crown  in 
regard  to  the  pope.  The  nobles  not  being  able  to 
draw  anything  from  the  States,  had  recourse  to 
force,  and  united  themselves  with  the  Protestants 
(1615) ;  a  strange  alliance  of  the  ancient  feudal 
party  with  the  religious  Reformation  of  the  six- 
teenth century.  Concini,  tired  of  a  middle  course, 
had  the  Prince  of  Conde,  chief  of  the  coalition, 
arrested ;  this  bold  proceeding  announced  the  era 
of  new  politics  ;  the  young  Richelieu  had  appear- 
ed (1616). 

De  Luynes,  1617.  —  An  intrigue  of  the  court 
overthrew  Concini  for  the  benefit  of  the  young 
Luynes,  a  favourite  domestic  of  the  little  king, 
who  persuaded  him  to  liberate  himself  from  his 
minister  and  from  his  mother  (1617).  Concini 
was  assassinated ;  his  widow,  Leonora  Galigai', 
was  executed  as  a  sorceress.  Their  true  crimes 
were  robbery  and  venality.  Luynes  did  little  ex- 
cept to  continue  the  ministry  of  Concini.  He  had 


340  SUMMARY  OF 

one  enemy  more,  the  mother  of  the  king,  who 
twice  excited  fears  of  a  civil  war.  The  Protest- 
ants took  daily  a  more  threatening  attitude.  They 
demanded,  arms  in  hand,  the  fulfilment  of  that 
dangerous  Edict  of  Nantes,  which  allowed  a  repub- 
lic to  exist  within  the  kingdom.  Luynes  drove 
them  to  extremities  by  reuniting  Berne  to  the 
crown,  and  declaring  that  in  that  province  ec- 
clesiastical property  should  be  made  over  to  the 
Catholics.  This  was  precisely  what  the  emperor 
wished  to  do  in  Germany,  and  it  was  the  principal 
cause  of  the  Thirty  Years'  War.  Richelieu,  at  a 
later  period,  avoided  this  mistake.  He  did  not 
trouble  the  Protestants  about  their  usurped  prop- 
erty ;  he  only  interested  himself  about  their  strong- 
holds. Their  assembly  of  La  Rochelle  (1621) 
published  a  declaration  of  independence,  divided 
the  700  Reformed  Churches  of  France  into  eight 
circles,  regulated  the  raising  of  money  and  men, 
and,  in  one  word,  organized  the  Protestant  Repub- 
lic. They  offered  to  Lesdigui&res  100,000  crowns 
a  month  if  he  would  place  himself  at  the  head  of 
their  army  and  organize  it.  But  the  old  soldier 
would  not,  at  the  age  of  eighty,  leave  his  little 
kingdom  of  Dauphiny  to  accept  the  command  of 
this  undisciplined  party.  Luynes,  who  had  taken 
the  command  of  the  armies  and  the  title  of  Con- 
stable, miscarried  disgracefully  before  Montauban, 


MODERN   HISTORY.  341 

where  he  had  conducted  the  king.     He  died  in  this 
campaign  (1621). 

Richelieu — War  against  the  Pope  and  the  Prot- 
estants— Intrigues  of  Gaston.  —  It  was  only  two 
years  afterward  that  the  queen-mother  introduced 
her  creature,  Richelieu,  into  the  council  (1624). 
The  king  had  an  antipathy  for  this  man,  in  whom 
he  seemed  to  foresee  a  master.  The  first  thought 
of  Richelieu  was  to  neutralize  the  power  of  Eng- 
land, the  sole  ally  of  the  Protestants  of  France. 
This  was  done  in  two  ways :  first,  he  supported 
Holland  ;  he  lent  her  money  to  obtain  vessels ; 
and,  secondly,  the  marriage  of  the  King  of  Eng- 
land with  the  beautiful  Henrietta  of  France,  daugh- 
ter of  Henry  IV.,  increased  the  natural  indecis- 
ion of  Charles  I.,  and  the  distrust  of  the  English 
towards  his  government.  The  cardinal  thus  be- 
gan by  an  alliance  with  the  English  and  the  her- 
etic Dutch,  and  by  a  war  against  the  pope  ;  we 
may  judge  from  this  what  freedom  of  mind  he 
brought  into  politics.  The  pope,  given  up  to  the 
Spaniards,  held  for  them  the  small  Swiss  can- 
tori  Valteline,  thus  guarding  that  entrance  of  the 
Alps,  by  which  their  Italian  possessions  communi- 
cated with  Austria.  Richelieu  hired  some  Swiss 
troops,  sent  them  against  those  of  the  pope,  and 
gave  Valteline  to  the  Grisons,  not  without  having 
assured  himself  by  a  decision  at  Sarbonne  that  he 
F  r2 


342  SUMMARY    OF 

could  do  it  conscientiously.  After  having  defeat- 
ed the  pope,  he  defeated  in  the  following  year  the 
Protestants  (1525),  who  had  again  taken  up  arms  ; 
he  defeated  and  he  managed,  but  he  was  not  able  to 
destroy  them.  He  was  shackled  in  the  execution 
of  his  grand  projects  by  the  most  contemptible  in- 
trigues. Women  excited  the  young;  the  domes- 
tics of  Gaston,  duke  of  Orleans,  spurred  his  sloth- 
ful ambition.  They  wished  to  give  him  a  support 
from  abroad,  by  making  him  marry  a  foreign  prin- 
cess. Richelieu  endeavoured  first  to  gain  them 
over.  He  gave  a  marshal's  staff  to  Ornano,  gov- 
ernor of  Gaston.  This  imboldened  them,  and 
they  plotted  his  death.  Richelieu  caused,  more- 
over, their  principal  accomplice,  the  young  Chalais, 
to  join  him,  but  obtained  nothing.  Then  changing 
his  policy,  he  gave  Chalais  up  to  a  committee  of 
the  Parliament  of  Bretagne,  and  had  him  beheaded 
(1626).  Gaston,  while  they  took  off  the  head  of 
his  friend,  married,  without  saying  a  word,  Made- 
moiselle de  Montpensier.  D'Ornano  was  shut  up 
in  the  Bastile,  and  died  there  soon  after,  doubtless 
from  poison.  The  favourites  of  Gaston  were  con- 
demned to  die  at  the  Bastile  (Puylaurens,  in  1635). 
Such  were  the  politics  of  the  time ;  as  such,  we 
read  them  in  the  Machiavel  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  Gabriel  Naude,  librarian  of  Mazarin.  The 
motto  of  these  politics,  as  Naude  gives  it,  is  this : 


MODERN    HISTORY.  343 

Solus  populi  suprema  lex  esto.  For  the  rest,  they 
were  consistent  in  the  choice  of  means.  It  is  the 
same  atrocious  doctrine  which  inspired  our  terror- 
ists of  '93.  It  seems  to  have  left  Richelieu  neither 
doubts  nor  remorse.  As  he  expired,  the  priest 
asked  him  if  he  pardoned  his  enemies.  "  I  have 
never  had  any,"  replied  he,  "  other  than  those  of  the 
state."  He  had  uttered  at  another  time  these  words, 
which  make  us  tremble  :  "  I  dare  undertake  no- 
thing without  having  well  thought  of  it ;  but  when  I 
once  form  my  resolution,  I  proceed  straight  towards 
my  end :  I  overthrow  all — cut  down  all ;  and,  final. 
ly,  I  cover  all  with  my  red  robe." 

Taking  of  La  Rochelle. — In  reality,  he  marched 
straight  onward  with  a  terrible  inflexibility.  He 
suppressed  the  office  of  Constable  ;  that  of  Admiral 
of  France  he  took  for  himself,  under  the  title  of  Gen- 
eral Superintendent  of  the  Marine.  This  title  would 
seem  to  announce  him  as  destroyer  of  La  Rochelle. 
Under  the  pretext  of  economy,  he  ordered  the  re- 
duction of  pensions  and  the  demolition  of  fortresses. 
The  fortress  of  Protestantism,  La  Rochelle,  was 
finally  attacked.  A  coxcomb,  who  governed  the 
King  of  England,  the  handsome  Buckingham,  had 
solemnly  declared  himself  in  love  with  the  great 
Queen  of  France  ;  they  closed  against  him  all  en- 
trance to  the  kingdom,  and  he  caused  war  to  be 
declared  against  France.  The  English  promised 


344  SUMMARY    OF 

succour  to  La  Rochelle  ;  it  revolted,  and  fell  under 
the  grasp  of  Richelieu  (1627-28).  Buckingham 
came  with  several  thousand  men,  to  be  beaten 
on  the  isle  of  Rhe.  Charles  I.  had  afterward 
many  other  affairs  on  hand.  With  the  famous 
Petition  of  Right  (1628)  commenced  the  revolution 
of  England,  to  which  Richelieu  was  anything  but 
a  stranger.  In  the  mean  time,  La  Rochelle,  aban- 
doned by  the  English,  saw  herself  cut  off  from  the 
sea  by  a  prodigious  dam  of  1500  toises:  we  may 
still  distinguish  the  remains  of  it  at  low  water. 
The  work  took  more  than  a  year :  the  sea  carried 
off  the  dam  more  than  once.  Richelieu  did  not  let 
go  his  booty.  French  Amsterdam,  of  which  Co- 
ligny  had  thought  to  make  himself  a  second  Will- 
iam of  Orange,  was  seized  in  her  waters,  and 
made  inland  ;  separated  from  her  proper  element, 
she  could  but  languish.  Protestantism  was  killed 
by  the  same  blow,  at  least  as  a  political  party. 
The  war  still  continued  in  the  South.  The  famous 
Duke  of  Rohan  put  an  end  to  it  by  an  agreement 
for  100,000  crowns. 

War  of  Italy,  1629-30. — After  having  divided 
the  Protestant  party  in  France,  Richelieu  beat  the 
Catholic  party  in  Europe  ;  he  forced  the  Spaniards 
into  their  Italy,  where  they  had  reigned  since 
Charles  V.  By  a  short  war  he  cut  the  knot  of  dif- 
ficulty in  the  succession  of  Mantua  and  Montser- 


MODERN    HISTORY.  345 

rat ;  they  were  small  possessions,  but  great  milita- 
ry posts.  The  last  duke  had  bequeathed  them  to 
a  French  prince,  the  Duke  of  Nevers.  The  Sa- 
voyards, fortified  in  the  Pass  of  Suza,  thought 
themselves  impregnable,  and  Richelieu  himself 
thought  so.  The  king  took  this  terrible  obstacle 
in  person  ;  the  Duke  of  Nevers  was  confirmed  in 
his  authority ;  France  had  an  advance  station  in 
Italy,  and  the  Duke  of  Savoy  knew  that  the  French 
passed  near  whenever  they  wished  (1630). 

Day  of  Dupes. — During  this  great  war,  the  moth- 
er of  the  king,  the  courtiers,  the  ministers  even, 
made  a  silent  and  cowardly  attack  upon  Richelieu. 
They  thought  to  have  dethroned  him.  He  saw 
Louis  again,  spoke  to  him  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  and 
found  himself  once  more  sovereign.  This  day  was 
called  the  Day  of  the  Dupes.  It  was  a  comedy. 
Richelieu  prepared  to  depart  in  the  morning,  and 
his  enemies  did  the  same  at  night.  But  the  piece 
had  its  tragical  side.  The  cardinal  had  the  two 
Marillacs,  the  marshal  and  the  superintendent,  both 
creatures  of  his  who  had  turned  against  him,  ar- 
rested. Without  speaking  of  the  crime  of  extor- 
tion and  peculation,  so  common  at  this  period,  they 
were  guilty  of  having  endeavoured  to  cause  the 
failure  of  the  war  of  Italy,  by  retaining  the  sums 
which  were  appropriated  for  it.  The  head  of  one 
of  them  was  taken  off.  What  was  most  odious  in 


346  SUMMARY   OF 

this  act  was,  that  the  criminal  was  tried  by  a  com- 
mittee of  his  personal  enemies,  in  a  private  house, 
even  in  the  palace  of  Richelieu,  at  Ruel. 

Revolt  of  Gaston — Montmorency  Decapitated. — 
The  queen-mother,  a  more  embarrassing  enemy, 
had  been  arrested  and  intimidated.  She  had  de- 
cided to  make  her  escape,  with  her  son  Gaston, 
to  Brussels.  Gaston,  aided  by  the  Duke  of  Lor- 
raine, whose  daughter  was  his  second  wife,  as- 
sembled some  undisciplined  troops,  and  entered 
France.  He  had  been  invited  by  the  nobles, 
by  Montmorency  among  others,  to  be  Governor  of 
Languedoc.  The  nobles  wished  this  time  to  play 
quit  or  double.  To  join  with  Montmorency,  it 
was  necessary  to  traverse  the  kingdom.  The 
badly-paid  soldiers  of  Gaston  recompensed  them- 
selves with  their  own  hands  on  the  road.  Every- 
where the  cities  closed  their  gates  against  these 
brigands.  The  junction  took  place  at  Castelnau- 
dari,  and  nevertheless  they  were  beaten  (1632). 
Gaston  threw  away  his  arms,  and  again  made 
peace,  delivering  up  his  friends ;  he  took  an  ex- 
press oath  to  love  the  ministers  of  the  king,  the  car- 
dinal in  particular.  Montmorency,  wounded  and 
taken,  was  cruelly  beheaded  at  Toulouse.  Men 
deplored  this  last  representative  of  the  chivalrous 
and  feudal  world.  Already  his  father,  the  Duke 
,  of  Bouteville,  father  of  the  celebrated  Luxemburg, 


MODERN    HISTORY.  347 

had  been  beheaded  in  1627  for  having  fought  a 
duel.  When  such  heads  fell,  the  nobles  began  to 
comprehend  that  they  must  no  more  trifle  with  the 
government  and  the  law. 

Thirty  Years'  War.  —  The  Thirty  Years'  War 
was  then  at  its  height.  Richelieu  could  not  inter- 
fere with  it  directly,  as  long  as  he  had  the  nobles 
upon  his  hands.  The  emperor  had  at  that  time  de- 
feated the  Protestant  party;  the  Palatine  was 
ruined  (1623) ;  the  King  of  Denmark  left  the  par- 
ty (1629).  The  Catholic  armies  had  the  greatest 
generals  at  their  head — the  tactician  Tilly,  and 
that  demon  of  war,  Waldstein.  To  lift  up  the 
Protestants,  to  rouse  unwieldy  Germany,  required 
a  movement  from  abroad.  Richelieu  searched  the 
North,  even  beyond  Denmark,  and  from  Sweden 
he  drew  Gustavus  Adolphus.  He  first  relieved 
him  from  the  war  with  Poland;  he  gave  him 
money,  procured  him  an  alliance  with  the  United 
Provinces  and  with  the  King  of  England.  At  the 
same  time,  he  had  the  address  to  determine  the 
emperor  to  disarm  himself.  The  Swede,  a  poor 
prince,  who  had  more  to  gain  than  to  lose,  rushed 
at  once  into  Germany,  fell  upon  it  like  a  thunder- 
bolt, confounded  the  famous  tacticians,  and  beat 
them  with  ease,  while  they  were  studying  how  to 
avert  his  blows.  He  took  from  them  with  one 
stroke  the  whole  of  the  Rhine,  the  whole  of  the 


348  SUMMARY    OF 

west  of  Germany.  Richelieu  had  not  foreseen  that 
he  would  proceed  so  swiftly.  Happily,  Gustavus 
perished  at  Lutzen ;  happy  alike  for  his  enemies, 
for  his  allies,  and  for  his  own  glory.  He  died 
honest  and  unconquered  (1632). 

French  Period,  1635-48. — Richelieu  continued 
his  aid  to  the  Swedes,  closed  France  on  the  side 
of  Germany  by  confiscating  Lorraine,  and  declared 
war  upon  the  Spaniards  (1635).  He  thought  the 
house  of  Austria  sufficiently  checked  to  enable  him 
to  make  division  of  its  spoils.  He  had  bought 
over  to  his  interest  the  best  pupil  of  Gustavus 
Adolphus,  Bernard  of  Saxe  Weimar.  But  this 
war  was  difficult  at  first.  The  Imperialists  enter- 
ed by  Burgundy,  and  the  Spaniards  by  Picardy. 
They  were  not  more  than  thirty  leagues  from 
Paris.  All  was  confusion ;  the  minister  himself 
seemed  to  have  lost  his  reason.  The  Spaniards 
were  driven  back  (1636).  Bernard  of  Weimar 
gained  his  glorious  battles  of  Rhinfeld  and  Brisach 
for  the  benefit  of  France ;  Brisach  and  Friburg, 
those  impregnable  places  were  also  taken.  The 
temptation  became  strong  for  Bernard ;  he  wished 
with  the  money  of  France  to  form  himself  a  small 
sovereignty  on  the  Rhine ;  his  master,  the  great 
Gustavus,  had  not  had  time  ;  Bernard  had  as  little. 
He  died  at  thirty-six  years,  most  opportunely  for 
France  and  Richelieu  (1639). 


MODERN    HISTORY.  349 

Catalonia  and  Portugal,  1640 —  Cinq  Mars. — 
In  the  following  year  (1640)  the  cardinal  found 
means  to  simplify  the  war.  It  was  creating  one  in 
Spain  among  her  own  subjects,  and  more  than  one. 
The  East  and  West,  Catalonia  and  Portugal,  took 
fire  all  at  once.  The  Catalonians  placed  them- 
selves under  the  protection  of  France.  Spain 
wished  to  follow  the  example  of  Richelieu,  to  pro- 
cure for  her  benefit  an  internal  war  in  France. 
She  made  a  treaty  with  Gaston,  and  with  the  no- 
bles. The  Count  of  Soissons,  who  moved  before 
he  was  ordered,  was  obliged  to  save  himself  among 
the  Spaniards,  and  was  killed  in  fighting  for  them 
near  Sedan  (1641).  The  faction  was  not  discour- 
aged ;  a  new  plot  was  contrived  in  concert  with 
Spain.  The  young  Cinq  Mars,  master  of  the 
horse,  and  favourite  of  Louis  XIII.,  engaged  in  it 
with  an  imprudence  which  lost  Calais.  The  pru- 
dent De  Thou,  son  of  the  historian,  knew  of  the 
affair,  but  kept  it  secret.  The  king  himself  was 
not  ignorant  that  they  plotted  the  ruin  of  the  min- 
ister. Richelieu,  who  at  that  time  was  very  sick, 
seemed  lost  beyond  help.  Yet,  having  succeeded 
in  procuring  a  copy  of  their  treaty  with  the  foreign- 
er, he  had  still  time  to  prosecute  his  enemies  be- 
fore his  death.  He  caused  the  head  of  Cinq  Mars 
and  of  De  Thou  to  be  cut  off;  the  Duke  of  Bouillon, 
who  had  already  been  denounced,  purchased  his 
Go 


350          SUMMARY    OF    MODERN    HISTORY. 

life  by  giving  up  his  city  of  Sedan,  the  focus  of  all 
these  intrigues.  On  the  other  side  of  France,  Rich- 
elieu at  the  same  time  took  Perpignan  from  the 
Spaniards.  These  two  places  were  a  legacy  from 
the  cardinal  to  France,  which  they  covered  on  the , 
North  and  South.  This  great  man  died  in  the 
same  year  (1642). 


THIRD  PERIOD. 


1648-1789. 


PART  I— 164     1715. 


CHAPTER  XVIIi. 

TROUBLES    UNDER    MAZARIN COMMENCEMENT  OF 

COLBERT'S  ADMINISTRATION — LOUIS  xiv.,  1643- 

1661. 

Louis  XIV.,  1643  —  Mazarin.—The  death  of 
Richelieu  was  a  deliverance  for  all  the  world.  Men 
breathed  freely.  The  people  gave  vent  to  their 
joy  in  songs.  The  king  sung  them  himself,  all 
dying  as  he  was.  His  widow,  Anne  of  Austria, 
was  regentess  in  the  name  of  the  new  King  Louis 
XIV.,  who  was  then  six  years  of  age.  France, 
after  Richelieu  and  Louis  XIII.,  as  after  Henry 
IV.,  found  herself  under  the  feeble  sway  of  a  wom- 
an who  knew  not  how  to  resist  her  enemies  or 
retain  her  own  power.  A  contemporary  writer 
says,  that  then  there  were  not  more  than  three  little 
words  in  the  French  language — "  The  queen  is  so 
good."  The  Concini  of  this  new  Mary  of  Medicis 
was  an  Italian  of  much  talent,  the  Cardinal  Maza- 
rin.  His  administration  was  as  deplorable  at  home 
as  it  was  glorious  abroad ;  it  was  disturbed  by  the 


354  SUMMARY   OF 

ridiculous  revolution  of  the  Fronde,  and  made  il- 
lustrious by  the  two  treaties  of  Westphalia  and  the 
Pyrenees  ;  the  first  remained  the  diplomatic  chart 
of  Europe  until  the  French  Revolution.  The  good, 
the  bad,  were  equally  an  inheritance  from  Riche- 
lieu ;  he  had  taxed  to  excess  every  energy  of 
government ;  it  naturally  relaxed  under  Mazarin. 
Richelieu  having  daily  to  engage  in  some  deadly 
combat,  had  lived,  as  it  regarded  finances,  on  ty- 
rannical expedients.  He  had  consumed  both  pres- 
ent and  future  means  by  destroying  credit.  Ma- 
zarin,  finding  affairs  in  this  condition,  increased  the 
disorder,  letting  the  people  take,  and  taking  him- 
self. He  left  at  his  death  two  hundred  millions 
worth  of  property.  He  had  always  too  much  sense 
not  to  feel  the  value  of  order  in  the  finances.  On 
his  deathbed  he  said  to  Louis  XIV.,  he  thought 
he  had  acquitted  himself  of  all  wrong  towards  his 
master  by  giving  him  Colbert.  A  part  of  this  em- 
bezzled money  was  used  honourably.  He  sent  Ga- 
briel Naude  all  over  Europe  to  purchase  valuable 
books  at  any  price  ;  thus  he  formed  his  admirable 
Bibliotheque  Mazarine,  and  he  opened  it  to  the 
public.  This  was  the  first  public  library  in  Paris. 
At  the  same  time  he  gave  to  Des  Cartes,  who  had 
retired  to  Holland,  a  pension  of  one  thousand 
crowns,  which  was  regularly  paid  to  him. 

Rocroi,  1643. — The  new  reign  was  commenced 


MODERN   HISTORY.  355 

by  victories .  The  French  infantry  for  the  first  time 
took  rank  in  the  world  by  the  battle  of  Rocroi 
(1643).  This  event  was  a  very  different  affair 
from  a  battle  ;  it  was  a  great  social  fact.  Cavalry 
form  the  aristocratic  arm  of  a  nation — infantry  the 
plebeian.  The  appearance  of  infantry  is  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  people.  Whenever  a  national  sen- 
timent springs  up,  infantry  appears.  As  is  the 
people,  so  are  the  infantry.  During  the  century 
and  a  half  that  Spain  had  been  a  nation,  the  Span- 
ish foot-soldier  reigned  on  the  field  of  battle,  fear- 
less under  its  fire;  respecting  himself,  though  in 
rags,  and  causing  everywhere  the  Senor  Soldade 
to  be  respected ;  for  the  rest,  gloomy,  avaricious, 
and  covetous,  badly  paid,  yet  patiently  waiting  the 
pillage  of  some  good  city  in  Germany  or  Flanders. 
They  had  in  the  time  of  Charles  V.  sworn  "  by  the 
sacking  of  Florence ;"  they  had  plundered  Rome, 
then  Antwerp,  then  innumerable  cities  of  the  Neth- 
erlands. Among  the  Spaniards  there  were  men  of 
all  nations,  especially  Italians.  National  character 
disappeared.  Their  esprit  de  corps,  and  the  an- 
cient honour  of  the  army,  still  sustained  them  when 
they  were  carried  by  land  to  the  battle  of  Rocroi. 
The  soldier  who  took  their  place  was  the  French 
soldier,  the  ideal  of  the  soldier,  impetuosity  dis- 
ciplined. Though  far,  as  yet,  from  comprehending 
the  true  nature  of  patriotism,  this  soldier  had  still  a 


356  SUMMARY   OF 

warm  affection  for  the  land  of  his  birth.  It  was 
a  merry  population  of  the  sons  of  labourers,  whose 
grandfathers  had  fought  in  the  last  religious  wars. 
These  wars  of  partisans,  and  these  skirmishes  at 
pistol-shot  distance,  made  a  whole  nation  of  sol- 
diers ;  there  were  traditions  of  honour  and  bravery 
in  their  families.  The  grandchildren  enrolled,  and, 
conducted  by  a  young  man  of  twenty  years,  the 
great  Conde,  forced  the  Spanish  lines  at  Rocroi, 
and  routed  the  ancient  bands  as  gayly  as  their  de- 
scendants, under  the  command  of  another  young 
man,  broke  the  bridges  of  Arcola  and  Lodi. 

Since  the  time  of  Gustavus  Adolphus,  war  had 
breathed  a  more  liberal  spirit.  Armies  trusted  less 
to  materiel,  more  to  moral  force.  Tactics,  if  I  may 
so  speak,  had  become  spiritualized.  Since  they 
had  felt  this  inspiration,  men  could  march  without  ^ 
counting  the  enemy.  They  required  a  daring  spirit 
at  their  head ;  a  young  man,  confident  of  success. 
Conde,  at  Friburg,  threw  his  staff  into  the  ranks 
of  the  enemy ;  all  the  French  ran  to  bring  it  back. 

Treaty  of  Westphalia,  1648. — Victory  engenders 
victory.  The  lines  of  Rocroi  forced,  the  barrier  of 
Spanish  and  German  honour  was  also  forced  for- 
ever. The  following  year  (1644),  the  skilful  and 
aged  Mercy  suffered  the  lines  of  Thionville  to  be 
carried ;  Conde  took  Philipsburg  and  Mayence, 
the  central  position  on  the  Rhine.  Mercy  was 


MODERN    HISTORY.  357 

beaten  again,  and  completely  routed  at  Noolingen 
(1645).  In  1646  Conde  took  Dunkirk,  the  key  of 
Flanders  and  of  the  Straits.  Finally,  on  the  20th 
of  August.  1648,  he  gained  in  Artois  the  battle  of 
Lens.  On  the  24th  of  October  the  peace  of  West- 
phalia was  signed.  Conde  had  simplified  the  ne- 
gotiations. 

Conde. — These  five  years  of  unheard-of  success 
were  fatal  to  the  good  sense  of  Conde.  He  did  not 
think  of  the  people  who  had  gained  his  victories  ; 
he  took  them  to  himself,  and  all  the  world,  it  is  true, 
thought  with  him.  This  is  what  made  him  enjoy  ia 
the  Fronde  the  part  of  bully,  and  hero  of  the  theatre : 
soon  deceived,  disappointed,  powerless,  and  ridicu- 
lous, he  became  angry  with  himself  and  with  every- 
body, and  joined  the  enemy ;  but  he  failed,  for  he 
no  longer  commanded  the  French. 

The  Fronde. — The  very  year  of  this  glorious 
treaty  of  Westphalia,  which  terminated  the  Euro- 
pean war,  and  gave  Alsace  to  France,  the  most 
ridiculous  of  revolutions  broke  out.  The  Fronde 
(this  war  of  children,  suitably  named  after  a  game  of 
children)  was  doubtless  ridiculous  in  its  issue,  but 
much  more  in  its  principle ;  it  was,  at  bottom,  a  re- 
volt of  the  lawyers  against  the  law.  The  Parlia- 
ment armed  itself  against  the  royal  authority  from 
which  it  was  derived.  It  took  to  itself  the  power 
of  the  States-General,  and  pretended  to  be  the  dele- 


358  SUMMARY    OF 

gate  of  a  nation,  who  knew  nothing  of  it.  It  was 
at  this  time  that  the  Parliament  of  England,  the  true 
Parliament,  in  the  political  sense  of  the  term,  had 
decapitated  its  king  (1649).  On  the  other  hand, 
the  populace  of  Naples  made  for  themselves  a  king 
of  a  fisherman  (Masaniello,  1648).  The  Parlia- 
ment of  France,  composed  of  lawyers,  who  pur- 
chased their  places,  did  not  make  war  on  the  dy- 
nasty, nor  on  royalty,  but  on  royal  power  alone. 
From  their  conduct  for  two  centuries,  nothing  like 
this  could  have  been  foreseen.  In  the  religious 
wars,  they  had  shown  much  timidity  and  docility. 
Favourable  for  the  most  part  to  new  ideas,  they 
had  yet  registered  the  decree  of  St.  Bartholomew. 
Under  Richelieu  this  same  docility  continued  ;  the 
Parliament  had  furnished  him  with  commissions 
for  his  sanguinary  courts,  and  yet  had  not  been  the 
less  ill  treated,  violated,  and  interdicted  (Paris, 
1635  ;  Rouen,  1640).  They  were  much  humbled. 
But  when  they  again  raised  their  heads,  and  felt 
that  those  heads  were  still  on  their  shoulders,  and 
saw  their  master  dead,  they  thought  themselves 
valiant,  and  spoke  boldly.  It  was  a  pleasant  es- 
cape of  scholars  from  between  two  severe  masters  ; 
from  Richelieu  and  Louis  XIV.,  from  violence  and 
power. 

Mole  —  Retz. — In  this  tragi-comedy  the  most 
amusing  actors  after  the  French  Mars,  as   they 


MODERN    HISTORY.  359 

•f 

called  Conde,  were  the  opposite  chiefs  of  the  two 
parties  of  Parliament — the  immovable  President 
Mole,  a  simple  bar  of  iron,  who  yielded  to  no  man, 
nor  to  any  opinion  :  and  on  the  other  side  mobility 
itself,  personified  in  the  coadjutor,  the  famous  Car-^ 
dinal  Retz.  This  petulant  young  man  had  com- 
menced by  writing,  at  the  age  of  seventeen,  a 
history  of  the  conspiracy  of  Fiesco  ;  then,  to  join 
practice  with  theory,  he  had  entered  into  a  con- 
spiracy against  Richelieu.  His  happiness  was  to 
liear  himself  called  the  young  Catiline.  When  he 
entered  the  Parisian  Senate,  he  let  a  dagger  fall 
from  his  pocket.  Knowing  that  Caesar  had  debts, 
he  contracted  debts.  Like  Caesar,  he  has  left  com- 
mentaries. He  only  wanted  a  Pharsalia. 

The  extreme  misery  of  the  people  would  scarce- 
ly admit  of  new  taxes.  Mazarin  lived  upon  casual 
expedients  and  oppressions.  His  superintendent 
of  finance,  Emeri,  another  Italian,  having,  in  com- 
pensation for  a  heavy  tax,  withdrawn  four  years' 
payment  from  the  Royal  Companies,  exempted 
the  Parliament.  The  Parliament  would  not  be 
exempted  alone,  and  refused  to  register  the  edict. 
It  declared  its  union  with  the  Royal  Companies,! 
inviting  the  other  Parliaments  to  accede  (May  13, 
June  15,  1648).  Mazarin  thought  he  struck  a 
great  blow  by  having  four  counsellors  arrested 
while  they  were  carrying  the  standards  taken  at 


360  SUMMARY    OF 

the  battle  of  Lens  to  the  Church  of  Notre  Dame, 
and  were  chanting  the  Te  Deum.  This  was  the 
commencement  of  the  insurrection.  Of  the  four 
prisoners,  the  one  most  dear  to  the  people  was  an 
imbecile  old  counsellor,  who  pleased  them  by  his 
simplicity  and  his  fine  white  hair.  His  name  was 
Broussel.  A  mob  collected  before  his  door ;  an 
old  servant  harangued  them.  By  degrees  the  noise 
increased,  and  soon  the  cry  of  "  Liberty  and  Brous- 
sel !"  was  heard  from  a  hundred  thousand  lips. 

The  Court  at  St.  Germain. — The  princes,  the 
nobles,  the  Parliament,  and  the  lower  classes  were 
all  at  first  against  Mazarin.  The  queen  was  obli- 
ged to  leave  Paris  with  her  infant  son.  They 
slept  at  St.  Germain  upon  straw.  It  was  a  miser- 
able time  for  kings.  The  Queen  of  England,  who 
was  a  refugee  at  Paris,  remained  in  bed  during  the 
winter  for  the  want  of  wood.  In  the  mean  time 
the  Parliament  raised  troops,  the  lawyers  mounted 
their  horses,  and  each  carriage-gate  furnished  one 
armed  footman.  The  Viscount  Turenne,  who  was 
of  the  intriguing  house  of  Bouillon,  thought  the 
time  had  arrived  for  recovering  Sedan,  and  made 
himself  for  a  moment  general  of  the  Fronde.  Tu- 
renne was  of  a  cold  and  grave  disposition,  yet  in 
joining  that  party  he  also  made  court  to  Madame  de 
Longueville.  Every  general,  every  chief  of  a  par- 
ty, every  true  hero  of  romance  or  of  history,  must 


MODERN    HISTORY.  361 

at  that  time  necessarily  have  a  lady  of  his  thoughts, 
and  be  in  love. 

Arrest  of  the  Princes,  1650 — Treaty  of  the  Py- 
renees, 1659. — The  Spaniards,  who  entered  France 
in  order  to  profit  by  this  crisis  (1649),  reconciled 
for  the  moment  both  parties  through  fear.  Conde, 
who  until  then  had  remained  faithful  to  the  court, 
felt  that  they  could  not  do  without  him,  and  became 
an  insupportable  necessity.  It  was  then  that  they 
created  for  him  and  the  young  men  around  him  the 
title  of  petits  maitres.  He  bargained  with  both  par- 
ties at  the  same  time  ;  it  was  necessary  to  have  him 
arrested  (1650).  This  was  a  pretext  for  Turenne, 
who  was  about  to  join  the  Spaniards,  and  who  de- 
clared that  he  contended  for  his  deliverance.  The 
party  of  the  princes  and  of  the  Frondeurs,  finding 
themselves  united  and  supported  by  Spain,  Maza- 
rin  had  to  yield.  He  retired  to  let  the  storm  pass 
by ;  the  following  year  he  returned,  gained  over 
Turenne,  and  vainly  endeavoured  to  bring  the 
king  back  to  Paris  (battle  of  Porte  Saint  Antoine, 
1652).  One  year  more,  and,  the  weakness  of  the 
parties  having  become  complete,  the  Parisians 
themselves  forced  the  king  to  return  (1653).  The 
Frondeurs  crowded  the  antechambers  of  Mazarin. 
Conde  and  the  Spaniards  were  defeated  by  the 
royal  army,  at  that  time  commanded  by  Turenne. 
Mazarin  without  scruple  united  himself  with  the 

II  H 


362  SUMMARY  OF 

Republic  of  England,  with  Cromwell,  and  crush- 
ed the  Spaniards.  Turenne  gained  the  battle  of 
the  Dunes  (1658),  which  gave  Dunkirk  to  the 
English,  and  to  France  the  peace  of  the  Py- 
renees (1659).  The  treaty  of  Westphalia  had 
guarantied  to  France  her  barriers  of  Artois,  Al- 
sace, and  Roussillon  ;  that  of  the  Pyrenees  gave 
her  Gravelines,  Landrecy,  Thionville,  Montmedy. 
The  young  King  of  France  married  the  Infanta  of 
Spain,  with  a  dowry  of  500,000  crowns,  which 
was  not  paid.  The  infanta  renounced  all  right  of 
succession  to  the  kingdom  of  Spain.  Mazarin  did 
not  dispute  this  :  he  foresaw  what  these  renuncia- 
tions would  be  worth  (1659). 

There  was  at  this  time  the  most  complete  tri- 
umph of  royalty,  and  the  most  perfect  harmony 
between  the  people  and  one  man,  ever  known. 
Richelieu  had  defeated  the  nobles  and  the  Protest- 
ants ;  the  Fronde  had  ruined  the  Parliament  by 
forcing  it  to  acknowledge  them.  There  remained  in 
France  but  one  people  and  one  king.  The  former 
lived  in  the  latter;  it  could  no  longer  be  said  to  live 
by  means  of  its  own  vital  powers  alone.  When 
Louis  XIV.  said,  "  The  kingdom  is  mine,"  it  was 
neither  bombast  nor  boasting,  but  the  simple  an- 
nouncement of  a  fact. 

Louis  XIV. — The  young  Louis  was  the  man  to 
act  this  magnificent  part.     His  cold  and  solemn 


MODERN    HISTORY.  363 

figure  hovered  for  fifty  years  over  France  with  the 
same  majesty.  In  the  first  thirty  he  sat  eight 
hours  daily  in  the  councils,  connecting  business 
and  pleasure — hearing,  consulting,  but  judging  for 
himself.  His  ministers  changed  and  died,  but  he 
was  always  the  same ;  he  went  through  duties, 
ceremonies,  feasts  of  royalty,  with  the  regular- 
ity of  the  sun,  which  he  had  chosen  for  his  em- 
blem. 

Colbert. — One  of  the  glories  of  Louis  XIV.  was 
to  have  retained  for  twenty-two  years  as  minister 
one  of  those  men  who  have  done  the  most  for  the 
glory  of  France :  I  mean  Colbert.  He  was  the 
grandson  of  a  linendraper  of  Rheims,  of  the  sign 
of  the  Long-vetu ;  his  mind  was  not  brilliant,  but 
solid,  active,  and  indefatigable.  He  reorganized 
the  affairs  of  the  interior,  of  commerce,  of  the 
finances — those  even  of  the  navy,  which  he  placed 
in  the  hands  of  his  son  ;  he  only  wanted  the  offices 
of  minister  of  war  and  of  justice  to  be  king  of 
France.  The  war  was  conducted  (since  1666) 
by  Louvois,  a  violent  and  fierce  administrator, 
whose  influence  balanced  that  of  Colbert.  Louis 
XIV.  seemed  to  be  placed  between  them,  as  be- 
tween his  good  and  evil  genius.  Both  were  at  all 
times  necessary  ;  they  formed  the  equilibrium  of 
this  great  reign. 

When  Colbert  entered  upon  affairs,  in  1661,  the 


364  SUMMARY    OF 

duties  \vere  eighty-four  millions,  and  of  these  the 
king  touched  hardly  thirty-two.     In  1670,  in  spite 
of  wars,  he  had  raised  the  revenue  to  one  hundred 
and  sixteen  millions.     His  first  financial  operation, 
the  reduction  of  interest,  gave  a  heavy  blow  to 
credit.     His  industrial  regulations  were  singularly 
vexatious  and  tyrannical.     But  he  regarded  com- 
merce with  the  most  enlightened  views.     He  ap- 
pointed consulting  committees  of  merchants,  estab- 
lished free  entrepots,  made  public  roads,  and  gave 
security  to  commerce  at  sea  by  destroying  pirates. 
At  the  same  time  he  carried  a  bold  hand  into  polit- 
ical administration.     He  repressed  the  exemptions 
from  duties  which  the   ecclesiastics,  the  nobles, 
and  citizens  of  the  free  cities  extended  to  their 
tenants,  by  representing  them  as  mere  servants. 
He  revoked,  in  1664,  all  the  letters  of  nobility  is- 
sued since  1630.     He  declared  all  the  account- 
ing offices  to  be  fortuitous,  in  order  to  suppress 
them  by  degrees.      Colbert  is  reproached   with 
having  encouraged  commerce  more  than  agricul- 
ture ;  yet  he  forbade  seizure,  for  payment  of  debts, 
of  the  bedding,  clothes,  fiorses,  oxen,  or  utensils  ol 
husbandmen,  and  of  more  than  the  fifth  of  their 
cattle.     He  kept  grain  at  low  prices,  by  prohibit- 
ing its  exportation.     We  must  consider,  too,  that, 
the  greatest  part  of  the  country  being  still  in  the 
hands  of  the  princes  and  nobles,  encouragement 


MODERN   HISTORY.  365 

given  to  agriculture  would  have  been  less  profit- 
able to  the  people  than  to  the  aristocracy.  On  the 
contrary,  commerce  was  in  the  hands  of  the  mid- 
dling class,  which  began  to  rise. 

This  man,  who  came  from  a  counting-room,  had 
a  feeling  for  the  true  grandeur  of  France.  He 
forgot  his  economy  when  disbursements  would 
bring  glory  to  his  country.  *'  It  is  necessary,"  he 
wrote  to  Louis  XIV.,  "to  save  five  sous  on  un- 
necessary things,  and  to  throw  away  millions  when 
your  glory  is  in  question.  A  useless  repast  of 
three  thousand  livres  gives  me  incredible  pain; 
but  when  millions  of  gold  for  Poland  are  required, 
I  would  sell  all  my  property,  would  pawn  my  wife 
and  my  children,  and  would  go  on  foot  all  my  life- 
time to  procure  it."  The  principal  monuments  of 
Louis  XIV.,  his  noblest  establishments,  the  obser- 
vatory, library,  and  academies,  belong  in  a  great 
measure  to  Colbert.  He  caused  pensions  to  be 
given  to  the  scientific  men  and  artists  of  France,  and 
even  of  foreign  countries.  "  There  was  not,"  says 
a  contemporary  writer,  "  a  learned  man,  however 
distant  from  France,  who  did  not  receive  some 
mark  of  his  respect."  "  Although  the  king  is  not 
your  sovereign,"  he  wrote  to  the  Dutchman,  Isaac 
Vossius,  "he  wishes,  nevertheless,  to  be  your 
benefactor." 

Whatever  reproaches  may  be  uttered  against 
H  H2 


366  SUMMARY    OF 

Louis  XIV.,  such  letters  offer  at  least  some  palli- 
ation ;  and  to  them  we  must  add  the  Hotel  des 
Invalides,  the  city  of  Dunkirk,  the  canal  between 
the  two  seas,  and,  above  all,  Versailles.  This 
wonderful  monument,  to  which  no  other  country 
can  furnish  a  parallel,  is  the  emblem  of  the  great- 
ness of  France  centralized  for  the  first  time  in  the 
seventeenth  century.  Those  wonderful  masses  of 
verdure,  and  that  hierarchy  of  bronze,  of  marble, 
of  fountains,  and  cascades,  rising  one  above  another 
on  the  royal  mount,  from  the  monsters  and  tritons 
which  howl  below,  to  those  beautiful  ancient  stat- 
ues which  crown  the  platform  with  the  serene 
likeness  of  the  gods ;  there  is  through  all  a  glori- 
ous picture  of  the  monarchy  itself.  These  wa- 
ters, which  rise  and  descend  with  so  much  grace 
and  majesty,  seem  to  represent  the  vast  social  cir- 
.culation  which  then  for  the  first  time  took  place  : 
power  and  wealth  ascending  from  the  people  to 
the  king,  to  be  returned  in  the  shape  of  glory,  or- 
der, and  security.  The  mother  of  Apollo,  the 
charming  Latona,  in  whom  the  unity  of  the  garden 
.seems  to  centre,  silences  the  insolent  clamours  of 
.the  group  which  surrounds  her ;  from  men  they 
become  croaking  frogs.  Is  mit  this  the  regency 
.triumphing  over  the  Fronde  ? 


MODERN    HISTORY.  367 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

CONTINUATION    OF     THE     REIGN     OF     LOUIS     XIV., 

1661-1715. 

FRANCE,  standing  alone  and  invincible,  while 
the  greater  part  of  the  states  of  Europe  were 
prostrate,  now  claimed,  and  obtained  the  suprem- 
acy. The  pope  having  permitted  the  ambassador 
of  France  to  be  insulted  in  an  outrageous  manner, 
and  his  hotel  to  be  violated,  Louis  XIV.  demanded 
the  most  humiliating  amends.  The  pope  was 
obliged  to  drive  his  own  brother  from  his  domin- 
ions, and  to  erect  a  pyramid  to  perpetuate  his  hu- 
miliation (1664).  At  the  same  time  that  he  treat- 
ed the  spiritual  chief  of  the  Christian  world  so  se- 
verely, Louis  XIV.  defended  the  interests  of 
Christendom  upon  the  sea  and  upon  land  ;  he  freed 
the  sea  from  the  pirates  of  Barbary  (1664).  To 
the  Emperor  Leopold,  engaged  in  a  war  against  the 
Turks,  he  sent  troops,  who  played  the  most  brill- 
iant part  at  the  battle  of  St.  Gothard. 

Spain. — Against  whom  will  France  go  to  display 
the  power  which  she  has  just  announced  ?  There 
are  but  two  nations  in  the  West,  England  being 
paralyzed  by  the  return  of  the  Stuarts.  There  is 


36S  SUMMARY    OF 

Spain  and  Holland,  the  conquered  and  the  conquer- 
or. Spain  is  still  that  prodigious  vessel,  the  prow 
of  which  was  in  the  Indian  seas,  and  the  stern  in  the 
Atlantic  Ocean ;  but  the  vessel  has  been  dismasted, 
disabled,  and  cast  ashore  in  the  tempest  of  Prot- 
estantism. A  gale  of  wind  has  carried  away  her 
long-boat — Holland.  A  second  has  taken  Portugal 
from  her,  and  laid  bare  her  planks  ;  a  third  has  de- 
tached the  East  Indies.  What  remains  is  vast  and 
imposing,  but  inert  and  immovable,  yet  awaiting 
ruin  with  dignity. 

Holland. — On  the  other  hand  was  Holland,  that 
hardy,  avaricious,  and  reserved  nation,  which  did 
so  many  great  things  without  greatness.  First, 
they  lived  in  spite  of  the  ocean ;  this  was  the  first 
miracle  :  then  they  salted  their  herrings  and  cheese, 
and  changed  their  infected  tuns  to  tons  of  gold ; 
next,  they  made  this  gold  fruitful  by  means  of  a 
bank — their  gold  pieces  bore  young.  In  the  mid- 
dle of  the  seventeenth  century  they  had  gathered 
at  pleasure  the  spoils  of  Spain,  had  taken  the  sea 
from  her,  and  the  Indies  besides.  The  Spanish 
Netherlands  were  held  in  a  state  of  siege  by  virtue 
of  a  treaty.  Spain  had  consented  to  the  closing 
of  the  Sheldt  and  the  ruin  of  Antwerp  (1648). 
The  Belgians  were  prohibited  from  selling  the  prod- 
uce of  their  soil.  Holland  was  already  a  vampire 
couched  on  Belgium,  sucking  her  life,  and  growing 
fat  upon  her  leanness. 


MODERN    HISTORY.  369 

Conquest  of  Flanders. — Such  was  the  situation 
of  the  West  when  France  attained  the  summit  of 
her  power.  The  land  yet  belonged  to  Spain,  the 
sea  to  Holland.  The  office  of  France  in  the  sev- 
enteenth century  was  the  dismembering  of  the 
one  and  the  weakening  of  the  other ;  the  first 
was  easier  than  the  last.  France  had  armies,  but 
as  yet  no  vessels.  She  commenced  with  Spain. 
First,  France  united  herself,  to  appearance,  with 
Holland  against  Spain  and  England,  who  dispu- 
ted for  the  dominion  of  the  seas.  France  promis- 
ed aid  to  the  Dutch,  but  she  permitted  the  three 
powers  to  dash  their  vessels  against  each  other, 
and  to  destroy  their  navies  in  the  most  obstinate 
naval  battles  which  as  yet  had  ever  been  fought. 
Philip  IV.  being  dead  (1667),  Louis  XIV.,  quo- 
ting the  civil  law  of  the  Netherlands,  pretended 
that  his  wife,  who  was  the  eldest  daughter  of  the 
deceased,  ought  to  succeed  him  in  preference  to 
the  younger  son.  It  is  true  she  had  renounced 
the  succession,  but  the  promised  dowry  had  not 
been  paid.  The  French  army  entered  Flanders 
in  all  the  pomp  of  the  new  reign.  Turenne  at  the 
head,  then  the  king,  the  ministers,  the  ladies  in  the 
golden  carriages  of  the  court ;  then  Vauban,  who,  as 
they  advanced,  established  himself  in  the  different 
places  and  fortified  them.  Flanders  was  taken  in 
two  months,  and  has  been  kept.  The  same  win- 


370  SUMMARY    OF 

ter,  when  they  thought  the  war  suspended  (Janua- 
ry, 1668),  the  troops  marched  through  Champagne 
to  Burgundy,  and  fell  on  Franche-Comte.  Spain 
had  expected  nothing  of  the  kind.  The  authori- 
ties of  the  country  had  been  purchased  beforehand. 
All  was  finished  in  seventeen  days.  The  exas- 
perated court  of  Spain  wrote  to  the  governor,  "  that 
the  King  of  France  should  have  sent  his  lackeys 
to  take  possession  of  the  province,  instead  of  com- 
ing to  it  himself." 

Peace  of  Aix-la-Chapelle,  1668.— These  rapid 
successes  reconciled  Spain  and  Holland.  The 
latter  did  not  care  to  have  the  great  king  for  a 
neighbour.  We  find  the  Hollanders  interesting 
themselves  for  Spain,  defending  her,  and  uniting 
themselves  with  England  and  Sweden  in  her  be- 
half; the  Hollanders  had  the  address  to  make 
England  demand  that  union.  Three  Protestant 
states  are  thus  armed  to  defend  Catholic  Spain 
against  Catholic  France.  This  singular  event 
shows  how  far  we  already  are  from  the  sixteenth 
century,  and  from  religious  wars  (triple  alliance  of 
the  Hague,  1668).  Louis  XIV.  was  content  with 
French  Flanders,  and  gave  up  Franche-Comte. 

Holland  had  protected  Spain,  and  compelled 
France  to  draw  back.  A  citizen,  a  sheriff  of  Am- 
sterdam, declared  to  the  king,  in  the  midst  of  ail 
his  glory,  that  he  should  go  no  farther.  Insolent 


MODERN    HISTORY.  371 

medals  were  struck.  The  sheriff  of  Amsterdam 
was  represented  with  a  sun  and  this  device  :  "  In 
conspectu  meo  stetit  sol." 

From  that  time  the  contest  in  Europe  was  between 
France  and  Holland.  France  could  not  advance  one 
step  without  meeting  Holland.  At  first  the  king 
purchased  with  ready  money  the  alliance  of  Eng- 
land and  Sweden.  Charles  II.,  who  had  already 
betrayed  England  by  selling  Mardick  and  Dun- 
kirk to  France,  once  more  sold  the  interests  of  his 
country.  They  promised  to  the  nation  some  of  the 
Dutch  islands ;  to  the  king,  money  for  his  feasts  and 
his  mistresses.  The  young  and  seductive  Duchess 
of  Orleans,  sister-in-law  to  Louis  XIV.,  sister  of 
Charles  II.,  negotiated,  when  on  a  triumphant  jour- 
ney, the  shame  of  her  brother.  It  was  she  who 
died  so  young  and  so  deeply  mourned,  for  whom 
Corneille  and  Racine  each  composed  a  Berenice, 
and  BossuetAe  celebrated  funeral  discourse. 

Creation  of  a  Navy. — In  the  mean  time,  the  army 
of  Louis  XIV.  had  been  increased  to  eighty  thou- 
sand men.  It  received  through  Louvois  the  most 
formidable  organization.  For  the  first  time,  the 
bayonet,  so  terrible  a  weapon  in  French  hands,  was 
placed  on  the  top  of  the  musket.  The  indefatigable 
genius  of  Colbert  created  a  navy.  France,  so  lately 
obliged  to  borrow  vessels  from  Holland,  had  in  1672 
one  hundred  ;  five  navy  arsenals  were  built — Brest, 


372  SUMMARY    OF 

Rochefort,  Toulon,  Dunkirk,  Havre.  Dunkirk  is, 
unhappily,  ruined  ;  but  Toulon  and  Brest,  with  their 
vast  constructions,  their  mountains  removed  to 
make  room  for  vessels,  still  attest  the  Herculean 
efforts  which  France  then  made,  and  the  mem- 
orable defiance  which  she  gave  to  Holland  re- 
specting the  dominion  of  the  seas. 

Holland  held  the  sea,  and  thought  to  hold  all.  The 
party  of  the  sea  governed ;  the  De  Witts  in  council, 
and  Ruyter  in  the  fleets  ;  the  De  Witts  were  states- 
men, geometers,  pilots,  and  sworn  enemies  of  the 
land  party,  of  the  house  of  Orange,  of  the  stadt- 
holdership.  They  seemed  to  forget  that  Holland  be- 
longed to  the  Continent ;  they  only  saw  in  it  an 
island.  The  fortresses  fell  to  ruins  ;  Holland  had 
twenty-five  thousand  bad  soldiers,  and  this,  too, 
when  the  French  frontier  had  been  advanced,  and 
almost  touched  theirs. 

Conquest  of  Holland,  1672. — Suddenly  one  hun- 
dred thousand  men  moved  from  Flanders  towards 
Holland  (-1672).  "  This  was,"  says  Temple,  "  as 
a  peal  of  thunder  in  a  clear  sky."  They  left  Mas- 
tricht  behind  them,  without  amusing  themselves 
with  taking  it ;  they  seized  Gueldren,  Utrecht,  Up- 
per Yssel ;  they  were  four  leagues  from  Amster- 
dam. Nothing  could  save  Holland.  Her  allies 
of  Spain  and  Brandenburg,  the  only  ones  she  had, 
could  not  wrest  this  prize  from  Louis  XIV.  It 


MODERN   HISTORY.  373 

was  the  conqueror  alone  who  could  save  her,  by 
his  mistakes,  and  he  did  it.  Conde  and  Turenne 
wished  to  dismantle  all  the  forts  ;  Louvois  preferred 
that  garrisons  should  be  stationed  there,  that  is,  that 
they  should  disperse  the  army.  The  king  sided 
with  Louvois.  They  relied  on  walls  ;  they  thought 
to  take  Holland  by  merely  placing  their  hands  on 
the  stones,  but  Holland  escaped.  At  first  the  am- 
phibious republic  wished  to  throw  herself  on  the 
water  and  embark  for  Batavia  with  her  gold.  The 
war  abating,  she  hoped  once  more  to  resist  by  land  : 
the  people  threw  themselves  furiously  on  the  chiefs 
of  the  sea  party,  the  De  Witts ;  they  were  cut  in 
pieces  :  Ruyter  looked  for  the  same  fate.  All  the 
forces  of  the  Republic  were  intrusted  to  the  young 
William  of  Orange. 

William  of  Orange. — This  general  of  twenty- 
two  years,  who,  as  his  first  trial,  undertook,  almost 
without  arms,  to  confront  the  greatest  king  of  the 
earth,  had  in  his  feeble  and  almost  dying  frame  the 
calm  and  inflexible  obstinacy  of  his  grandfather, 
the  Taciturn,  the  adversary  of  Philip  II.  He  was 
a  man  of  bronze — a  stranger  to  every  feeling  of 
nature  and  humanity.  Raised  by  the  party  of  De 
Witt,  he  was  their  ruin  ;  a  Stuart  by  the  family  of 
his  mother,  he  overthrew  the  Stuarts ;  the  son-in- 
law  of  James  II.,  he  dethroned  him  ;  and  England, 
which  he  had  taken  from  his  family,  he  lefi,  to 
I  i 


374  SUMMARY    OF 

those  whom  he  hated,  to  the  princes  of  the  house 
of  Hanover.  He  had  but  one  passion,  but  it  was 
atrocious — the  hatred  of  France.  It  is  said  that 
at  the  peace  of  Nimeguen,  when  he  endeavoured 
to  surprise  Luxemburg,  he  already  had  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  treaty ;  but  he  still  thirsted  for  French 
blood.  It  is  remarkable  that  this  great  and  in- 
trepid general  almost  always  waged  war  while  re- 
tiring before  his  foe ;  but  his  admirable  retreats 
were  worth  victories. 

Europe  leagued  against  Louis  XIV.,  1674. — 
At  first,  in  order  to  defend  Holland,  William  drown- 
ed it :  he  opened  the  sluices,  while  Ruyter  made 
sure  of  the  sea  by  defeating  the  French  and  the 
English,  and  came  to  moor  his  triumphant  fleet  in 
the  inundated  plain  of  Amsterdam.  Then  William 
armed  against  France  both  Spain  and  Austria.  He 
detached  England  from  Louis  XIV. ;  Charles  II. 
was  forced  by  his  Parliament  to  sign  the  peace. 
The  Catholic  neighbours  of  Holland,  the  Bishop 
of  Munster,  the  Elector  of  Cologne,  then  Branden- 
burg, then  Denmark,  then  the  Empire,  all  Europe, 
declared  themselves  against  Louis  XIV.  (1674). 

It  was  now  necessary  to  abandon  the  towns  of 
Holland,  and  retreat.  The  French  repaid  them- 
selves, as  usual,  at  the  expense  of  Spain.  Louis 
XIV.  seized  Franche-Comte,  which  has  been  re- 
tained by  France.  In  the  Netherlands,  Conde, 


MODERN    HISTORY.  375 

with  an  inferior  force,  gave  battle  to  the  prince 
in  that  furious  contest  at  Senef.  Conde  conquer- 
ed, but  it  was  a  victory  for  the  Prince  of  Orange 
to  have  stood  his  ground  before  Conde  at  an  equal 
loss.  Upon  the  Rhine,  Turenne,  who,  like  Bo- 
naparte, increased  in  boldness  as  he  increased  in 
years,  kept  all  the  Empire  in  awe.  Twice  he 
saved  Alsace,  twice  he  penetrated  Germany.  It 
was  then  that  the  Palatinate  was  burned  by  the 
order  of  Louvois.  The  Palatine  was  secretly  al- 
lied with  the  emperor,  and  it  was  proposed  to  leave 
only  a  desert  to  the  Imperials. 

Death  of  Turenne,  1675. — Turenne,  re-entering 
Germany,  was  about  to  strike  a  decisive  blow, 
when  he  was  killed  at  Saltzbach  (1675).  Conde, 
being  sick,  withdrew  the  same  year. 

Duquesne,  1677. — We -see  that  at  this  period  the 
destiny  of  France  depended  not  on  one  man.  The 
allies,  though  they  believed  France  disarmed  by  the 
retreat  of  the  two  great  generals,  could  not  break 
the  frontier  of  the  Rhine,  and  lost  in  the  Nether- 
lands, Conde,  Boudrain,  Aire,  Valenciennes,  Cam- 
bray,  Ghent,  Ypres.  Duquesne,  who  was  sent  to 
the  succour  of  Messina,  which  had  revolted  against 
Spain,  engaged  Ruyter  in  a  terrible  naval  battle  in 
sight  of  Mount  ^Etna.  The  allies  alone  lost  there 
twelve  ships,  six  galleys,  seven  thousand  men, 
seven  hundred  pieces  of  cannon,  and,  what  was 


376  SUMMARY  OF 

worth  more  than  all,  Ruyter.  Duquesne  destroy- 
ed their  fleet  in  a  second  battle  (1677). 

Peace  of  Nimeguen,  1678.  —  The  allies  now 
wished  peace ;  France  and  Holland  were  equally 
exhausted.  Colbert  asked  leave  to  retire  from  the 
ministry  if  the  war  was  continued.  Still  this  peace 
of  Nimeguen  was  advantageous  for  France.  She 
retained  Franche-Comte  and  twelve  places  of  the 
Netherlands ;  she  had  Friburg  for  Philipsburg. 
Denmark  and  Brandenburg  gave  up  what  they 
had  taken  from  Sweden,  the  ally  of  France.  Hol- 
land alone  lost  nothing,  and  the  great  European 
question  remained  unsettled  (1678). 

This  is  the  zenith  of  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV. 
Europe  had  been  armed  against  him,  and  he  had 
resisted  ;  he  was  still  increasing  in  power.  He 
assumed  to  himself  the  title  of  Great.  The  Duke 
of  Feuillade  went  farther.  He  kept  a  burning  lamp 
before  his  statue,  as  before  an  altar.  We  seem  to 
be  reading  the  history  of  the  Roman  emperors. 

Literature. — The  brilliant  literature  of  this  epoch 
is  but  one  hymn  to  royalty.  The  voice  which  rose 
highest  was  that  of  Bossuet;  it  was  as  Bossuet 
himself  represented  in  his  "  Discourse  on  Univer- 
sal History ;"  the  kings  of  Egypt  were  praised  by 
the  priests  in  the  temples,  in  presence  of  the  gods. 
The  first  period  of  the  great  reign,  that  of  Des  Car- 
tes, of  Port  Royal,  of  Pascal,  and  Corneille,  did  not 


MODERN    HISTORY.  377 

present  such  unanimity  :  literature  at  that  period 
was  animated  by  a  spirit  ruder  and  more  free.  At 
the  period  at  which  we  have  now  arrived,  Moliere 
had  just  died  (1673),  Racine  had  put  forth  his 
Phaedra  (1677),  La  Fontaine  published  the  last  six 
books  of  his  Fables  (1678),  Madame  de  Sevigne 
wrote  her  Letters,  Bossuet  meditated  on  the  knowl- 
edge of  God  and  of  himself,  and  prepared  the  Dis- 
course on  Universal  History  (1681).  The  Abbe 
Fenelon,  still  young,  a  simple  director  of  a  convent 
for  young  ladies,  lived  under  the  patronage  of  Bos- 
suet,  who  regarded  him  as  his  disciple.  Bossuet 
leads  the  triumphal  choir  of  the  great  century,  in 
full  assurance  of  the  past  and  of  the  future,  be- 
tween eclipsed  Jansenism  and  impending  Quietism, 
between  the  gloomy  Pascal  and  the  mystical  Fen- 
elon. In  the  mean  time,  Cartesianism  is  pushed 
to  its  most  formidable  consequences.  Malebranche 
makes  human  intelligence  an  emanation  from  God  ; 
and  in  Protestant  Holland,  struggling  with  Catho- 
lic France,  the  fathomless  gulf  of  Spinoza  is  about 
to  open  itself,  to  swallow  up  at  once  Catholicism 
and  Protestantism,  liberty,  morals,  God,  and  the 
world. 

Chamber  of  Reunion. — In  the  mean  time,  Louis 

XIV.  reigns  in  Europe.     The  sign  of  royalty  is 

jurisdiction.     He  wishes  the  powers  of  Europe 

to  acknowledge  the  decision  of  his  Parliaments. 

I  i  2 


378  SUMMARY   OF 

The  Chambers  of  Reunion  interpret  the  treaty 
of  Nimegueri,  and  reunite  the  dependences t  which 
had  been  yielded  to  him.  One  of  the  dependan- 
ces  was  nothing  less  than  Strasbourg  (1681). 
They  hesitate  to  obey  ;  he  bombards  Luxemburg 
(1684).  He  bombards  Algiers- (168 3),  Tripoli 
(1685).  He  bombards  Genoa  ;--?he  would  have 
crushed  it  in  its  marble  palaces,  Jiad  not  the  doge 
come  to  Versailles  to  ask  pardon,-;  .(168  4).  He 
bought  Casal,  the  gate  of  Italy  ;  he  built  Huningen, 
the  gate  of  Switzerland.  He  interposed  in  the  af- 
fairs of  the  Empire  ;  he  wished  to  make  an  elector 
of  Cologne  (1689).  He  reclaimed,  in  the  name  of 
his  sister-in-law,  the  Duchess  of  Orleans,  a  part 
of  the  Palatinate,  invoking  in  this  affair,  as  in  that 
of  Flanders,  the  civil  law  against  the  feudal  law. 
The  decisions  of  the  law  were  supported  by  force, 
Europe  was  disarmed,  and  Louis  XIV.  remained 
armed ;  he  increased  his  navy  to  230  vessels ;  to- 
wards the  end  of  his  reign  his  armies  amounted  to 
450,000  men. 

Declaration  of  the  Clergy,  1682. — At  the  same 
time  the  monarchy  attained  its  greatest  degree  of 
centralization.  The  two  chief  obstacles  were 
crushed  :  the  pontifical  power  and  the  Protestant 
opposition.  Since  1673  an  edict  had  declared  all 
the  bishoprics  of  the  kingdom  subject  to  the  throne. 
In  1682  an  assembly  of  thirty-five  bishops,  of  which 


MODERN    HISTORY.  379 

Bossuet  was  the  soul,  decided  "  that  the  pope  had 
authority  only  over  spiritual  things ,  that  in  such 
things  even  the  general  councils  were  superior  to 
him,  and  that  his  decisions  were  only  infallible 
after  the  Church  had  accepted  them."  The  pope 
from  that  time  refused<bulls  to  all  the  bishops  and 
abbes  whom  the  king  nominated,  so  that  in  1689 
there  were  twenty-nine  diocesses  in  France  without 
bishops.  They  spoke  of  making  a  patriarch.  In 
1687,  the  pope,  wishing  to  abolish  the  right  of  asy- 
lum which  the  ambassadors  enjoyed  at  Rome  for 
thei»  hotels  and  quarters,  Louis  XIV.  alone  refu- 
sed. The  French  ambassador  entered  Rome  at 
the  head  of  eight  hundred  men,  and  maintained  his 
privilege  by  force  of  arms. 

Revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes — Madame  de 
Maintenon. — That  which  quieted  the  religious  con- 
science of  Louis  XIV.  in  this  affair  was,  that,  while 
he  humbled  the  pope,  he  crushed  the  Protestants. 
Richelieu  had  destroyed  them  as  a  political  party, 
but  he  had  left  them  their  vote  in  the  Parliaments, 
their  synods,  and  a  part  of  their  interior  organiza- 
tion. He  vainly  flattered  himself  that  he  could 
lead  them  back  by  persuasion.  Louis  XIV.  em- 
ployed money,  and  seemed  greatly  to  have  advan- 
ced the  work ;  it  was  announced  to  him  every 
morning  that  a  district,  a  city,  were  converted ;  he 
need  only  to  act  with  a  little  vigour,  they  said,  and 


380  SUMMARY    OF 

he  would  restore  the  unity  of  the  Church  and  of 
France.  (Revoking  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  1685.) 
This  was  the  idea  of  the  greatest  men  of  the  time, 
especially  of  Bossuet.  The  employment  of  vio- 
lence in  a  matter  of  faith,  the  infliction  of  a  tem- 
poral evil  to  procure  an  eternal  good,  was  not  re- 
pugnant, at  that  time,  to  the  feelings  of  any  person. 
It  is  necessary,  however,  to  say  that  at  this  period 
there  was  great  exasperation  against  the  Protest- 
ants. France,  limited  in  her  success  by  Holland, 
felt  that  she  had  another  Holland  in  her  own  bo- 
som which  rejoiced  at  the  success  of  the  first*  As 
long  as  Colbert  lived  he  defended  them  ;  excluded 
from  offices,  they  had  turned  their  activity  towards 
industry  and  commerce,  and  they  troubled  France 
no  more  ;  they  enriched  it.  After  Colbert,  Louis 
XIV.  was  governed  by  Louvois,  the  enemy  of  Col- 
bert, and  by  Madame  de  Maintenon,  to  whom  he 
was  secretly  married  towards  1685.  Madame  de 
Maintenon  was  born  a  Calvinist,  and  was  grand- 
daughter to  the  famous  Theodore  Agrippa  d'Au- 
bigne,  one  of  the  chiefs  of  the  Protestant  opposi- 
tion against  Henry  IV.  This  discreet  and  judi- 
cious person  had  herself  abjured  her  religion,  and 
would  have  made  all  the  Protestants  do  the  same ; 
of  a  cold  disposition,  the  misery  of  her  early  years 
seemed  to  have  petrified  her  heart,  and  rendered 
her  more  than  ever  insensible.  She  was  the  wid- 


MODERN    HISTORY.  381 


ow  of  Scarion,  the  cripple,  the  author  of  the 
ide  Burlesqued,  before  she  became  the  wife  of 
Louis  the  Great.  She  had  no  children  ;  she  knew 
no  maternal  affection.  It  was  she  who  advised  the 
most  odious  measure  of  persecution  :  to  take  the 
children  from  their  parents  in  order  to  convert  them. 
The  cries  of  the  mothers,  at  this,  rose  to  heaven. 
The  power  of  Louis  XIV.  was  limited  without 
by  the  Protestant  opposition  of  Holland,  and  within 
by  the  Calvinists.  Disobeyed  for  the  first  time, 
the  government  showed  a  ferocious  violence,  which 
was  not  in  the  heart  of  Louis  XIV.  Vexations  of 
all  kinds,  confiscations,  the  galleys,  the  wheel, 
gibbets,  all  were  employed.  The  dragoons,  who 
were  placed  among  the  Calvinists,  aided  the  mis- 
sionaries in  their  own  way.  The  king  did  not  know 
one  half  of  the  excesses  which  were  committed.  In 
closing  the  kingdom,  confiscating  the  property  of  the 
fugitives,  sending  those  to  the  galleys  who  favoured 
their  escape,  the  state  lost  two  hundred  thousand 
subjects  ;  according  to  some,  five  hundred  thousand. 
Multitudes  escaped  to  England,  to  Holland,  and  to 
Germany,  but  the  greater  number  went  to  Prussia. 
They  became  the  most  bitter  enemies  of  France. 
William  charged  the  French  more  than  once  at  the 
head  of  a  French  regiment.  Much  of  the  success 
of  the  war  of  Ireland  was  due  to  the  old  Marshal 
Schomberg,  who  preferred  his  religious  faith  to  his 


382  SUMMARY   OF 

country.  The  infernal  machine,  which  was  made 
to  blow  up  Saint  Malo  in  1693,  had  been  invented 
by  a  refugee. 

Expulsion  of  James  I/.,  1688. — It  was  precisely 
at  this  time  that  the  majority  of  the  European  pow- 
ers formed  the  league  of  Augsburg  (1686).  Catho- 
lics and  Protestants,  William  and  Innocent  XL, 
Sweden  and  Savoy,  Denmark  and  Austria,  Bava- 
ria, Saxony,  Brandenburg,  all,  with  one  accord, 
were  against  Louis  XIV.  They  accused  him, 
among  other  things,  of  having,  by  his  correspond- 
ence with  the  revolted  Hungarians,  opened  Germa- 
ny to  the  Turks,  and  with  having  led  that  terrible 
invasion,  from  which  Vienna  was  saved  by  John 
Sobieski.  Louis  XIV.  had  only  the  King  of  Eng- 
land, James  II.,  for  him  ;  an  unexpected  revolution 
overthrew  James,  and  placed  England  in  the  hands 
of  William.  The  second  and  definitive  catastrophe 
of  the  Stuarts,  prepared  long  since  by  the  unwor- 
thy government  of  Charles  II.,  broke  out  under  his 
brother.  James  did  not  imitate  the  hypocritical 
evasions  of  Charles  ;  he  was  a  good  man,  but  of 
limited  faculties,  self-willed,  and  obstinate  ;  he  de- 
clared himself  to  be  a  Catholic  and  a  Jesuit  (this 
is  literally  correct) ;  he  contributed  in  every  way 
to  his  own  downfall,  and  he  did  fall.  His  son- 
in-law  William,  called  from  Holland,  took  his  place 
without  striking  a  blow  (1688). 


MODERN    HISTORY.  383 

Louis  XIV.  entertained  James  II.  magnificently, 
and  espoused  his  cause.  He  threw  the  gauntlet 
to  Europe,  he  declared  war  against  England,  Hol- 
land, the  Empire,  Spain,  and  the  pope.  During 
the  time  that  the  French  Calvinists  strengthened 
the  armies  of  the  league,  multitudes  from  all  nations 
came  to  take  part  in  the  armies  of  Louis  XIV.  He 
had  regiments  of  Hungarians  and  Irish.  One  day, 
when  he  was  complimented  upon  the  success  of 
the  French  army,  he  replied, "  Say,  rather,  the  army 
of  France ."  AA****(  ' 

This  second  period  of  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV, 
is  occupied  with  two  wars  of  succession — the  suc- 
cession of  England,  and  the  succession  of  Spain. 
The  first  war  terminated  honourably  for  France 
by  the  treaty  of  Ryswick  (1698),  and  yet  the  re- 
sult was  against  her ;  she  acknowledged  William. 
In  the  second  war,  terminated  by  the  treaties  of 
Utrecht  and  Rastadt  (1712-1714),  France  expe- 
rienced the  most  humiliating  reverses,  and  yet  the 
result  was  most  favourable  to  her.  Spain  was  se- 
cured to  a  grandson  of  Louis  XIV.,  and  from 
henceforth  was  open  to  French  influence.  Eng- 
land and  Spain  gained  by  this  double  revolution. 
The  era  of  English  liberty  is  the  ascension  to  the 
throne  of  William  (1688)  ;  since  that  of  Philip  V. 
(1701),  population,  which  had  been  decreasing  in 
Spain,  has  always  increased. 


384  SUMMARY    OF 

Add  to  these  results  the  elevation  of  two  sec- 
ondary states,  hereafter  indispensable  to  the  pres- 
ervation of  the  balance  of  power  in  Europe  :  Prus- 
sia and  Piedmont,  which  we  may  distinguish  as 
the  German  and  Italian  resistance.  Prussia,  both 
German  and  Slavonic,  unites  by  degrees  the  Ger- 
many of  the  North,  and  counterbalances  Austria. 
The  kingdom  of  Savoy-Piedmont  will  guard  the 
Alps,  and  will  close  them  ;  the  Italian  Alps  against 
France,  the  French  against  Italy. 

We  must  mark  in  advance  these  fine  and  use- 
ful results,  in  order  to  console  ourselves  for  the 
many  reverses  of  France  which  remain  to  be  re- 
lated. 

Luxembourg. — France,  in  1689,  most  cruelly  de- 
feated Germany.  She  placed  a  desert  between 
herself  and  her  enemies.  All  the  Palatinate  was 
burned  the  second  time  ;  Spire,  Worms,  and  more 
than  forty  cities  and  villages,  were  burned.  Two 
generals  made  head  rapidly  in  Flanders  and  the 
Alps,  viz.,  Luxembourg  and  Catinat,  in  whom 
we  see  a  second  Conde  and  Turenne.  Luxem- 
bourg was  a  general  of  inspiration  and  of  sudden 
movements,  carrying  on  war  as  a  great  lord  ;  often 
surprised,  but  never  conquered.  After  his  great 
battles  at  Fleurus,  Steinkerk,  and  Nerwinden 
(1690-92-95),  from  which  he  brought  so  many 
standards,  he  was  called  the  upholsterer  of  Notre 


MODERN    HISTORY.  385 

Dame.  This  brilliant  general  was  deformed  by 
nature.  William  always  said,  "  Can  I  not  beat, 
then,  this  little  hunchback  ?" 

Catinat. — Catinat  regarded  war  as  a  science. 
He  became  an  officer  by  chance  ;  from  a  family  of 
lawyers,  himself  a  lawyer  at  first,  he  was  the  first 
example  of  a  plebeian  general.  There  was  some- 
thing of  the  antique  in  that  man.  He  made  his 
way  slowly  by  his  own  merit ;  it  was  long  before 
he  obtained  command,  and  he  was  never  in  favour. 
He  asked  for  nothing,  received  little,  and  often  re- 
fused offers.  The  soldiers,  who  loved  his  sim- 
plicity and  good-nature,  called  him  le  Pere  de  la 
Penste.  The  court  received  his  services  with  re- 
gret. When  he  had  defeated  the  Duke  of  Savoy 
at  Staft'arde.  had  taken  Saluce,  and  routed  the  ene- 
my at  Suzes  (1690),  Louvois  wrote  to  him,  "Al- 
though you  have  served  the  king  very  badly  in  this 
campaign,  his  majesty  yet  wishes  to  preserve  for 
you  your  ordinary  allowance."  Catinat  was  dis- 
couraged at  nothing  ;  he  endured  the  rudeness  of 
Louvois,  and  the  difficulties  of  this  hard  war  in  the 
Alps,  with  the  same  patience. 

La  Hogue,  1692.  —  The  heaviest  blows  were 
struck  in  Ireland  and  on  the  sea.  Louis  XIV 
wished  to  bring  England  back  under  French  influ- 
ence. He  made  James  enter  Ireland  ;  he  sent  him 
supplies  after  supplies,  fleet  after  fleet.  James 
KK 


386  SUMMARY    OF 

miscarried.  The  odious  aid  of  the  French  and 
Irish  confirmed  the  English  in  their  hatred  of 
him.  Instead  of  raising  Scotland,  which  waited 
for  him,  he  remained  in  Ireland,  amused  himself . 
with  sieges,  and  was  beaten  at  the  Boyne.  Louis  I 
XIV.  was  riot  discouraged  ;  he  gave  him  money  to 
arm  and  equip  thirteen  thousand  men,  and  he  at- 
tempted to  send  him  twenty  thousand ;  Tourville 
and  D'Etrees  escorted  them  with  sixty-five  ves- 
sels. D'Etrees  being  wind-bound,  Tourville  found 
himself  with  forty-four  vessels  opposed  to  eighty. 
He  demanded  orders  from  the  court.  Louis  XIV. 
bade  him  force  a  passage.  This  terrible  battle 
of  La  Hogue  cost  the  French  only  seventeen  ves- 
sels, but  the  confidence  and  pride  of  their  navy 
was  gone.  It  was  reduced  in  1707  to  thirty-five 
vessels,  and  was  resuscitated  again,  but  for  a 
moment,  under  Louis  XVI.  The  battle  of  La 
Hogue  marks  the  era  of  England's  dominion  over 
the  seas  (1692).  Louis  XIV.  caused  one  of  his 
medals  to  be  struck,  bearing  a  threatening  Nep- 
tune, with  the  words  of  the  poet,  "  Quos  ego  .  . . ." 
The  Dutch  struck  a  medal  which  bore  for  its  de- 
vice, "  Maturate  fugam,  regique  haec  dicite  vestro  : 
Non  illi  imperium  pelagi. . . ." 

Peace  of  Ryswick,  1798. — The  terrible  ravages 
of  our  corsairs,  of  Jean  Bart,  and  Duguay-Trouin, 
with  the  bloody  battle  of  Nerwinden  gained  by 


MODERN    HISTORY.  387 

Luxembourg,  and  that  of  Catinat  at  Marseilles 
(1693),  by  degrees  rendered  the  allies  more  tract- 
able. The  Duke  of  Savoy  yielded  first.  Indeed, 
the  war  was  ended  for  him,  all  the  strong  places 
being  in  the  hands  of  the  French.  They  offered 
him  restitution,  and  for  his  daughter  a  prospect  of 
the  throne  of  France  ;  she  was  to  marry  the  Duke 
of  Bourgoyne,  grandson  of  Louis  XIV.,  heir  of  the 
monarchy.  The  defection  of  Savoy  (1696)  de- 
cided, by  degrees,  the  others.  France  retained 
Roussillon,  Artois,  Franche-Comte,  and  Strasburg, 
but  she  acknowledged  William.  This  was,  in  fact, 
to  be  conquered  (peace  of  Ryswick,  1698). 

Will  of  Charles  IL,  1700. — This  peace  was  but 
a  truce  accorded  to  the  sufferings  of  the  people. 
A  grand  question  occupied  Europe.  This  or  that 
province  of  Spain  was  not  in  controversy,  but  the 
entire  Spanish  monarchy,  with  Naples,  the  Neth- 
erlands, the  Indies.  As  Charles  V.  had  been 
laid  out  alive  in  his  coffin,  and  had  assisted  at 
his  own  funeral,  so  Charles  II.,  the  last  of  his  de- 
scendants, assisted  at  the  funeral  of  the  monarchy. 
This  old  man  of  thirty-nine  years,  governed  by  his 
wife,  by  his  mother,  by  his  confessor,  and  influen- 
ced by  all  the  world,  made  his  will  and  destroyed 
it.  The  King  of  France,  the  emperor,  the  electo- 
ral prince  of  Bavaria,  and  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  all 
bom  of  Spanish  princesses,  claimed  the  spoils  in 


388  SUMMARY    OF 

advance.  At  one  time  they  were  for  the  Bavarian, 
at  another  for  the  Austrian  ;  they  also  spoke  of 
dismembering  the  kingdom.  The  poor  king  saw 
all  this  while  yet  alive  ;  he  was  exasperated  at  it. 
Ignorant  and  changeable  as  he  was,  he  still  knew 
that  he  wished  to  ensure  the  unity  of  the  Spanish 
monarchy.  He  decided  for  a  prince  who  was 
most  capable  of  maintaining  this  unity ;  he  chose 
a  grandson  of  Louis  XIV. ;  then  opening  the 
tombs  of  the  Escurial,  he  disinterred  his  father, 
mother,  and  first  wife,  and  kissed  their  bones.  It 
was  not  long  before  he  joined  them  (1700). 

Louis  XIV.  accepted  the  legacy  and  the  dan- 
ger. He  sent  to  Spain  the  second  of  his  grand- 
sons, the  Duke  of  Anjou,  who  became  Philip  V. ; 
on  his  departure,  he  addressed  him  in  those  noble 
words,  which  from  century  to  century  will  appear 
more  true  and  more  profound  :  "  There  are  Pyre- 
nees no  longer."  The  immediate  consequence  was 
a  European  war.  Notwithstanding  the  advice  of 
his  council,  he  also  decided  to  acknowledge  the 
son  of  James  II.  as  Prince  of  Wales,  and  to  main- 
tain at  once  the  succession  of  Spain  and  of  Eng- 
land. 

Declining  Vigour  of  France. — It  was,  however, 
full  late  to  commence  such  a  war.  Louis  XIV. 
had  reigned  fifty-seven  years.  He  had  grown  old ; 
all  had  grown  old.  France  seemed  to  become  pale 


MODERN    HISTORY.  389 

at  the  age  of  her  king.  The  glories  of  his  reign 
were  all  departing  by  degrees.  Colbert  was  dead, 
Louvois  was  dead  (1682,  1691),  Arnaud  also,  and 
Boileau,  and  Racine,  and  La  Fontaine,  and  Madame 
Sevigne  ;  soon  the  great  voice  of  the  age,  Bossuet, 
was  heard  no  more  (1704).  France,  in  place  of 
Colbert  and  Louvois,  had  Chamillart,  who  increased 
the  number  of  her  ministers  ;  Chamillart  was  gov- 
erned by  Madame  de  Maintenon,  Madame  de 
Maintenon  by  Babbien,  her  old  servant.  Strange, 
too,  that  another  woman  should  govern  England 
after  King  William ;  I  speak  of  Queen  Anne, 
daughter  of  James  II.,  and  granddaughter,  through 
her  mother,  of  the  historian  Clarendon,  as  Ma- 
dame de  Maintenon  was  granddaughter  of  Agrippa 
d'Aubigne. 

From  being  placed  in  the  hands  of  ennobled 
citizens  (Chamillart,  Le  Tellier,  Pontchartrain,  &c., 
&c.),  the  government  became  only  more  favourable 
to  the  nobility,  who  had  been  prodigiously  increas- 
ed of  late.  They  were  ignorant  of  commerce  and 
industry,  arrogant,  and  incapable.  They  had  in- 
vaded the  antechamber,  the  army,  and  especially 
the  civil  offices.  The  small  nobles  were  officers 
or  clerks  at  their  option.  There  were  soon  as 
many  officers  as  soldiers,  as  many  clerks  as  prin- 
cipals. The  great  lords  bought  regiments  for  their 
young  children ;  they  commanded  the  armies,  and 
*,  KK2 


390  SUMMARY    OF 

allowed  themselves  to  be  taken  at  Cremona  and  at 
Hochstadt. 

Marlborough  and  Eugene. — There  were,  at  this 
time,  two  men  at  the  head  of  the  allied  armies  ca- 
pable of  profiting  by  all  this  :  an  Englishman  and 
a  Frenchman,  Marlborough  and  Eugene.  The  lat- 
ter, a  younger  son  of  the  house  of  Savoy,  but  son 
also  of  the  Count  of  Soissons  and  of  a  niece  of  Ma- 
zarin,  may  be  called  French.  Marlborough,  the 
handsome  Englishman,  was  cold,  but  acute  and  judi- 
cious ;  he  studied  under  Turenne,  and  returned  to 
France  her  own  lessons.  Eugene,  although  Yen- 
dome  called  him  a  bad  financier,  was  a  man  of 
extraordinary  tact,  who  troubled  himself  not  much 
about  rules,  but  who  thoroughly  understood  places, 
things,  persons,  knew  the  strong  and  the  weak,  and 
took  advantage  of  the  weak.  His  most  striking 
and  easy  successes  were  over  Ottoman  barbarism. 
This  man,  who  always  went  straight  to  the  point, 
won  victories  alternately  at  the  two  extremes  of 
Europe,  over  the  great  king,  and  over  the  Turks, 
and  it  seemed  as  if  he  had  saved  both  liberty  and 
Christianity. 

These  two  generals  had  one  convenience  for 
prosecuting  war,  that  is,  they  were  practically  kings 
in  their  respective  countries;  they  fought  in  the 
summer,  they  governed  and  negotiated  in  the  winter. 
They  had  full  power,  and  needed  not,  on  the  eve  of 


MODERN   HISTORY.  391 

a  battle,  to  send  to  Versailles  to  obtain  authority  to 
conquer. 

Villeroi — Vendome. — In  1701,  Catinat  gave  up 
the  army  to  the  magnificent  Villeroi,  whom  Prince 
Eugene  took  in  his  bed  at  Cremona.  Eugene  did 
not  gain  by  it.  Villeroi  was  replaced  by  Vendome, 
grandson  of  Henry  IV.,  a  true  soldier,  with  the 
manners  of  a  woman.  Vendome,  like  his  brother, 
the  great  prior,  remained  in  bed  until  4  o'clock 
P.M.  He  was  one  of  the  youngest  generals  of 
Louis  XIV. ;  he  was  only  fifty  years  old.  The 
soldiers  adored  him  even  for  his  bad  qualities. 
There  was  little  order,  or  foresight,  or  discipline  in 
this  army,  but  much  boldness  and  gayety ;  courage 
made  amends  for  all. 

Villars. —  Catinat  commanded  on  the  coast  of 
Germany,  and  Villars  under  him.  The  latter,  im- 
patient at  the  prudence  of  his  chief,  gained  rashly 
the  battle  of  Fridlingen  (1702)  ;  then,  piercing  into 
Germany,  he  gained  besides,  in  spite  of  the  Elector 
of  Bavaria,  the  ally  of  Louis  XIV.,  the  battle  of 
Hochstadt  (1703).  Villars  excited  the  enthusiasm 
of  his  soldiers  by  his  bravery,  his  boasting,  his 
handsome  military  figure.  At  Fridlingen  they  pro- 
claimed him  Marshal  of  France  on  the  field  of 
battle. 

The  road  to  Austria  was  open,  when  it  became 
known  that  the  Duke  of  Savoy  had  resolved  to  take 


392  SUMMARY    OF 

part  against  France  and  Spain,  against  his  two 
sons-in-law  (1703).  Down  to  this  time  the  allies 
had  gained  no  signal  advantage  over  France.  She 
fought,  however,  along  all  her  frontiers,  and  with- 
in them;  at  once  against  the  world  and  against 
herself.  The  Calvinists  of  Cevennes,  exaspera- 
ted by  the  severity  of  the  intendant  Basville,  had 
been  in  arms  since  1702.  Among  other  generals, 
Villars  and  Berwick  were  sent  against  them.  The 
latter  was  a  Stuart,  a  natural  son  of  James  II.,  who 
became  one  of  the  first  tacticians  of  the  age. 

Defeat  of  Hochstadt,  1704— Of  Turin,  of  Ramil- 
lies,  1705-1706. — Villars  was  far  off  in  Languedoc, 
and  Gatinat  had  retired  when  the  army  of  Germany, 
intrusted  to  M.M.  de  Marsin  and  Tallard,  experi- 
enced at  Hochstadt,  on  the  very  theatre  of  the  vic- 
tory of  Villars,  one  of  the  most  cruel  defeats  that 
France  had  ever  suffered.  They  had  thrown  them- 
selves blindly  into  Germany  on  the  road  to  Vienna, 
where  Marlborough  and  Eugene  cut  them  off;  the 
plan  had  been  so  laid,  that,  independent  of  the  kill- 
ed, 14,000  men  gave  themselves  up  without  having 
been  able  to  fight  (1704).  Villars  hurries  on  in 
time  to  cover  Lorraine,  while  Vendome  gains  an 
advantage  over  Eugene  in  the  bloody  affair  of  Cas- 
sano  (1705).  In  1706,  Vendome  was  replaced  by 
La  Feuillade  in  Italy.  France  experiences  two 
great  defeats :  by  that  of  Turin,  Eugene  takes  from 


MODERN    HISTORY,  393 

France  the  whole  of  Italy ;  by  that  of  Ramillies, 
Marlborough  drives  her  from  the  Spanish  Nether- 
lands. 

Defeat  of  Oudenarde,  1708 — Misery  of  France. 
— In  1707,  the  allies  penetrated  into  France  through 
Provence ;  in  1708,  through  Flanders  (defeat  of 
Oudenarde)  ;  1709  was  a  terrible  year :  first  a  fear- 
ful winter,  then  a  famine.  The  misery  was  univer- 
sal. The  footmen  of  the  king  begged  at  the  gate 
of  Versailles ;  Madame  de  Maintenon  ate  brown 
bread.  Whole  companies  of  cavalry  deserted  their 
unfurled  standards  to  gain  a  living  by  contraband 
trade.  The  recruiting  officers  had  to  chase  down 
men.  The  taxes  assumed  every  form  to  reach  the 
people ;  public  documents  were  taxed ;  men  paid 
to  be  born  and  paid  to  die.  The  peasants,  pursued 
into  the  woods  by  the  officers  of  the  king's  rev- 
enue, armed  themselves,  and  took  the  city  of  Castres 
by  storm.  The  king  could  not  get  a  loan  at  four 
hundred  per  cent. ;  the  national  debt  before  the 
death  of  Louis  XIV.  amounted  to  nearly  three 
thousand  millions. 

The  allies  suffered  also.  England  ruined  herself 
in  order  to  ruin  France.  But  Europe  was  led  on 
by  two  men  who  wished  for  war,  and,  besides,  the 
humiliation  of  Louis  XIV.  was  a  spectacle  too 
pleasant  to  be  lost.  His  ambassadors  could  get  no 
replies  except  in  derision.  It  was  necessary,  the) 


394  SUMMARY    OF 

said,  that  lie  should  undo  his  own  work — he  must 
dethrone  Philip  V.  He  even  condescended  to 
offer  money  to  the  allies  to  keep  up  the  war  against 
his  grandson.  But  no,  they  wanted  that  he  should 
drive  him  away  himself;  that  a  French  army  should 
fight  against  a  French  prince, 

Victory  of  Malplaquet,  1709.— The  aged  king 
then  declared  that  he  would  place  himself  at  the 
head  of  his  nobility,  and  would  go  to  die  on  his 
frontiers.  He  addressed  himself  for  the  first  time 
to  his  people  ;  he  called  upon  them  to  judge,  and 
exalted  himself  even  by  his  humiliation.  The  man- 
ner in  which  the  French  fought  this  year  (1709) 
indicates  plainly  how  much  the  war  had  become 
national.  It  was  on  the  9th  of  September,  near  the 
village  of  Malplaquet ;  the  soldier,  who  had  been 
in  want  of  provisions  all  day,  came  to  receive  his 
bread — he  threw  it  away  to  engage  in  battle.  Vil- 
lars,  seriously  wounded,  was  carried  from  the  field  ; 
the  army  retired  in  good  order,  not  having  lost  eight 
thousand  men ;  the  allies  left  fifteen  or  twenty  thou- 
sand on  the  spot. 

Victory  of  Denain,  1712 — Treaty  of  Utrecht, 
1712. — In  Spain,  the  throne  of  Philip  V.,  estab- 
lished by  Berwick  at  Almanza  (1707),  was  con- 
firmed at  Villaviciosa  by  Vendome  (1710) ;  he 
made  the  young  king  sleep  on  a  bed  of  standards. 
In  the  mean  time,  the  elevation  of  the  Archduke 


MODERN    HISTORY.  395 

Charles  to  the  Empire  (1711)  caused  Europe  to 
fear  the  reunion  of  the  Empire  with  Spain.  To 
humble  Louis  XIV.,  in  order  to  elevate  a  Charles 
V.,  was  no  trouble.  England  was  tired  of  paying ; 
she  saw  Marlboro  ugh,  who  had  been  gained  over 
by  the  Dutch,  carrying  on  the  war  for  their  inter- 
est. Finally,  the  victory  by  Villars  at  Denain, 
gained  by  a  surprise,  injured  the  reputation  of 
Prince  Eugene  (1712).  This  terrible  war,  in  which 
the  allies  had  expected  to  dismember  France,  did 
not  take  one  province  from  her  (treaties  of  Utrecht 
and  Rastadt,  1712  ;  of  La  Barriere,  1715). 

France  only  gave  up  some  colonies.  She  main- 
tained the  grandson  of  Louis  XIV.  on  the  throne 
of  Spain.  The  Spanish  monarchy,  it  is  true,  lost 
its  possessions  in  Italy  and  the  Netherlands ;  she 
ceded  Sicily  to  the  Duke  of  Savoy ;  the  Spanish. 
Netherlands,  Naples,  and  Milan  to  Austria  ;  but 
she  gained  by  concentrating  her  own  estates,  and 
by  escaping  the  embarrassment  of  those  distant 
possessions,  which  she  could  neither  defend  nor 
govern ;  the  two  Sicilies  were  soon  to  return  to  a 
branch  of  the  Bourbons  of  Spain.  Holland  had 
everal  places  in  the  Netherlands  to  defend  with* 
Austria,  at  their  common  expense.  England  secu- 
red the  recognition  of  her  new  dynasty  ;  she  gained 
a  footing  at  Gibraltar  and  on  Minorca,  at  the  en- 
trance of  Spain,  and  in  the  Mediterranean,  She  ob- 


396  SUMMARY    OF 

tained  for  herself  and  for  Holland  a  commercial  trea- 
ty disadvantageous  to  France.  She  required  the 
demolition  of  Dunkirk,  and  prevented  France  from 
furnishing  supplies  to  it  by  the  canal  of  Mardick. 
She  maintained  there,  most  unworthily,  an  English 
commissary,  to  assure  himself,  with  his  own  eyes, 
that  France  did  not  rebuild  the  city  of  Jean-Bart. 
u  They  went  to  work,"  says  a  contemporary,  "  at 
the  demolition  of  Dunkirk ;  they  demanded  eight 
hundred  thousand  livres  for  demolishing  only  the 
third  part  of  it."  Even  at  this  day  we  cannot 
read  without  pain  and  indignation  the  sorrowful 
petition  addressed  by  the  inhabitants  of  Dunkirk 
to  the  Queen  of  England. 

Death  of  Louis  XIV.,  1715. — Such  was  the  end 
of  the  great  reign.  Louis  XIV.  survived  the  treaty 
of  Utrecht  for  a  short  time  (died  1715).  He  had 
seen  nearly  all  his  children  die  within  a  few  years, 
the  dauphin,  the  Duke,  the  Duchess  of  Bourgoyne, 
and  one  of  her  sons.  In  his  deserted  palace  there 
remained  only  an  old  man,  almost  eighty,  and  a 
child  of  five  years.  All  the  great  men  of  the  reign 
had  gone :  a  new  age  had  commenced.  In  liter- 
ature, as  in  society,  all  energy  was  relaxed.  This 
epoch  of  luxury  and  of  ease  announced  itself  at 
a  distance,  by  the  agreeable  quietism  of  Madame 
Guy  on,  who  reduced  religion  to  love.  The  able 
and  eloquent  Massillon  only  touched  upon  doctrine 


MODERN    HISTORY.  397 

in  his  discourses,  attaching  himself  chiefly  to 
morals.  The  political  boldness  of  Fenelon  be- 
longs rather  to  the  eighteenth  century. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

LITERATURE,    THE     SCIENCES,    AND    ARTS    IN    THE 
AGE    OF    LOUIS    XIV. 

DURING  the  first  half  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury the  genius  of  literature  and  of  the  arts  was  still 
brilliant  in  the  states  of  the  South.  The  genius  of 
philosophy  and  of  the  sciences  illuminated  the  na- 
tions of  the  North,  more  especially  in  its  second  half. 
France,  alone  stationed  between  them,  shines  with 
a  double  lustre,  spreading  over  all  polished  nations 
the  sovereignty  of  her  language,  and  placing  her- 
self from  henceforth  at  the  head  of  European  civ- 
ilization. 

§  I.  FRANCE. 

France,  like  Italy,  has  her  great  literary  age,  suc- 
ceeding to  long  periods  of  agitation.  A  monarch, 
the  object  of  national  enthusiasm,  animates  and  en- 
courages genius.  The  religious  spirit  was  at  that 
period  the  chief  inspiration  of  literature.  Religion, 
between  the  attacks  of  the  sixteenth  and  those  of 
the  eighteenth  century,  animates  her  defenders 
with  a  new  force.  Literature,  besides,  receives  a 
LL 


398  SUMMARY    OF 

special  impulse  from  the  social  spirit  natural  to 
the  French,  but  which  can  develop  itself  only 
with  the  progress  of  ease  and  security;  it  is  to 
this  character  that  French  literature  owes  her 
superiority  in  dramatic  poetry,  and  in  all  delinea- 
tion of  manners.  A  capital  and  a  court  are  the 
arbiters  of  literary  merit.  They  have  less  origi- 
nality, but  they  attain  the  perfection  of  taste. 

The  seventeenth  century  presents  two  distinct 
periods.  In  France,  the  first  extends  to  1661,  the 
-epoch  at  which  Louis  XIV.  begins  to  reign  by 
himself,  and  to  exercise  some  influence  over  liter- 
ature. The  writers  who  lived,  or  who  formed 
themselves  in  this  period,  still  retain  something 
of  the  style  of  the  sixteenth  century.  Thoughts 
are  more  boldly  expressed,  and  are  more  pro- 
found ;  still  taste  is  the  attribute  of  some  men 
of  genius.  To  this  period  belong  (besides  the 
painters  Poussin  and  Le  Sueur)  a  great  number 
of  writers :  Malherbe,  Racan,  Breboeuf,  Rotrou, 
and  the  great  Corneille  ;  Balzac  and  Voiture  ;  Sar- 
rasin  and  Mezerai ;  Des  Cartes  and  Pascal.  Roche- 
foucault,  Cardinal  de  Retz,  and  Moliere  mark  the 
transition  from  the  first  period  to  the  second. 

France,  in  the  age  of  Louis  XIV.,  produces  no 
epic ;  her  great  poem  is  written  in  prose.  Brill- 
iant period  of  dramatic  poetry.  Tragedy  attains 
nobleness,  strength,  and  sublimity ;  afterward  fol- 


MODERN   HISTORY.  399 

low  grace  and  pathos.  In  comedy,  unrivalled 
by  other  nations.  Three  ages  of  French  com- 
edy: profound  philosophy,  coupled  with  a  naive 
gayety ;  gayety  without  philosophy ;  self-interest 
without  gayety.  The  opera  attains  the  rank  of 
literary  works.  Satire  attacks  that  which  is  ri- 
diculous rather  than  that  which  is  vicious  ;  and, 
above  all,  she  attacks  ridiculous  literature.  The 
epilogue  becomes  a  small  dramatic  poem.  Lyric 
poetry  flourishes  late,  and  displays  more  art  than 
enthusiasm.  The  pastoral  remains  feeble,  or  too 
spiritual.  Light  poetry  is  more  graceful  than 
pointed. 

DRAMATIC   POETS. 

Rotrou                died  in  1630  Th.  Corneilie  died  in  1709 

Moliere                    "      1673  Regnard  "      1709 

Pierre  Corneilie      "      1684  Brueys  "      1723 

Quinault                 "       1688  Campistron  "      1723 

Racine                     "      1699  Dancourt  "      1726 

Boursault                "      1708  Crebillon  "      1762 

OTHER    POETS. 


Malherbe 

died  in  1628 

Segrais 

died  in  1701 

Br6boeuf 

"      1661 

Boileau 

"      1711 

Racan 

"      1670 

La  Fare 

«      1713 

Benserade 

"      1691 

Chaulieu 

"      1720 

Mile.  Deshoulieres  "      1694 

J.  B.  Rousseau 

"      1741 

La  Fontaine 

"      1695 

The  eloquence  of  the  bar  did  not  reach  great 
excellence.  (Le  Maistre,  1658;  Patru,  1681; 
Pelisson,  1693.)  The  eloquence  of  the  pulpit  sur- 
passes all  the  models  of  antiquity.  Funeral  ora- 


400 


SUMMARY  OF 


tions  reappear  under  a  form  unknown  to  the  an- 
cients. 

ORATORS. 

Cheminais          died  in  1689  Flechier  died  in  1710 


Mascaron 

Bourdaloue 

Bossuet 


1703 
1704 
1704 


F6n61on 

Massillon 


1715 
1743 


.  History  was  loose  and  coldly  elegant.  The 
Discourse  on  Universal  History  opened  a  new 
route  for  history.  Abundant  materials  are  depos- 
ited in  memoirs  and  in  the  correspondence  of 
ministers.  A  number  of  other  branches  are  culti- 
vated with  success.  Novels  rival  comedy.  Woman 
attains,  in  the  carelessness  of  an  intimate  corre- 
spondence, the  perfection  of  familiar  style.  Trans- 
lation makes  some  progress,  and  literary  criticism 
commences. 


1706 
1722 
1723 
1725 
1728 
1735 
1742 
1755 


died  in  1681 
"  1688 
"  1695 
"  1695 
"  1698 
«  1707 


Sarrasin              died  in  1654 

Amelot  de 

Perefixe                    "      1670 

Boulainvil 

Cardinal  de  Retz    "       1679 

Fleuri 

MSzerai                   "      1683 

Rapin  de  ' 

P.  Maiinbourg         "       1686 

Daniel 

Mme.  de  Motteville        1689 

Vertot 

Saint  Real               "       1692 

Dubos 

Varillas                    "       1696 

Saint  Sim< 

P.  d'Orleans            "      1698 

LEARNED   HI! 

3TORIANS. 

Th.  Godefroi      died  in  1648 

Godefroi 

Sirmond                   "      1651 

Ducange 

P6tau                      "      1652 

Pagi 

Labbe                     "      1667 

Herbelot 

Valois                      "      1676 

Tillemont 

Moreri                    "      1680 

Cousin 

MODERN   HISTORY.  401 

MabiUon  died  in  1707  Basnage  died  in  1725 

Ruinart  "      1709  Le  Clerc  "      1736 

Baluze  "      1718  Montfaucon  "      1741 

WRITERS   ON   DIVERS   SUBJECTS. 


Voitnre               died  in  1648 

Bouhours             died  in  1702 

Vaugelas                 " 

1649 

Perrault                    " 

1703 

Balzac                    " 

1654 

St.  Evremond           " 

1703 

Du  Ryer                 " 

1656 

F6n61on                    " 

1715 

Scarron                   " 

1660 

Tourreil                   " 

1715 

D'Ablancourt          " 

1664 

Mad.  de  Maintenon" 

1719 

Arnault  d'Andilly   " 

1674 

Hamilton                  " 

1720 

Le  Bossu                 " 

1680 

Dufresny 

1724 

De  Saci                   " 

1684 

La  Motte  Houdart  " 

1731 

Chapelle                  " 

1686 

Mad.  de  Lambert    " 

1733 

Ant.  Arnaud           " 

1694 

Duclos                      « 

1742 

Lancelot                 " 

1695 

Mongault                  " 

1747 

Mad.  de  S6vign6     " 

1696 

Le  Sage                   " 

1747 

Mile,  de  Lafayette  " 

1699 

Fontenelle                " 

1757 

Bachaumont           " 

1702 

Metaphysics  give  a  new  impulse  to  the  human 
mind.  Moralists  accumulate  observations  with- 
out attempting  to  give  to  morality  a  scientific  form. 
They  begin  to  carry  the  philosophical  spirit  into 
natural  sciences.  Some  isolated  skeptics  in  this 
age  form  the  tie  between  the  sixteenth  century  and 
the  eighteenth  century. 

PHILOSOPHERS. 

Des  Cartes         died  in  1650  Bayle  died  in  1706 

Gassendi                 «  1655  Malebranche  "  1715 

Pascal                       "  1662  Huet  "  1721 

La  Motte  le  Vayer  "  1672  Buffier  "  1737 

La  Rochefoucault    "  1680  L'Abb6  de  St.  Pierre  1743 

Nicole                      "  1695  Fontenelle  "  1757 

La  Bruyere             "  1696 

The  sciences  are  not  neglected.    Rise  of  mathe- 
LL  2 


402  SUMMARY    OF 

matics.      Beginning  of  geography.     Commence- 
ment of  scientific  voyages 

SAVANS    AND   MATHEMATICIANS. 

Des  Cartes  died  in  1650  L'Hopital           died  in  1704 

Fermat  "       1652  James  Bernouilli     "       1705 

Pascal  "      1662  Nicolas  Bernouilli  "      1726 

Pecquet  "      1674  John  Eernouilli       "      1748 

Rohault  "      1675 

TRAVELLERS. 

Samson  died  in  1667  Tournefort  died  in  1708 

Bochard  "      1669  Chardin  "      1713 

Bernier  "      1688  De  1'Isle  "      1726 

VaiUant  "      1706 

Classical  learning  is  not  less  cultivated  than  in 
the  sixteenth  century,  but  is  less  noticed. 

LATIN    SCHOLARS    AND    POETS. 

Saumaise  died  in  1653  Jouvenci             died  in  1716 

Lefevre  "  1672  Madame  Dacier      "  1722 

Rapin  "  1687  Dacier                     "  1722 

Furetidre  «  1688  De  la  Rue               "  1725 

Menage  "  1691  Da  la  Monnaie        "  1728 

Santeuil  "  1697  Le  Card,  de  Polignac  1741 

Commire  "  1702  Brumoi                   "  1742 

Danet  "  1709 

Although  the  cultivation  of  the  arts  of  design  is 
-not  the  principal  characteristic  of  the  age  of  Louis 
XIV.,  yet  it  contributed  to  the  splendour  of  this 
brilliant  period.  Architecture  reflects  on  it  the 
brightest  lustre.  Painting,  at  first  cultivated  with 
genius,  experiences  a  decay,  which  must  increase 
in  the  following  century. 


MODERN    HISTORY.  403 


PAINTERS. 

Le  SUPUT 
Le  Poussin 
Le  Brim 

died  im  1655           Mignard 
"      1665           Jouveiiet 
"      1690           Rigaud 

died  in  1695 
"      1717 
"      1744 

SCULPTORS. 

Puget 
Girardon 

died  in  1695            Coysevox 
"      1715            Coustou 

died  in  1720 
"      1733 

ARCHITECTS. 

Fr.  Mansard 
Le  N6tre 

died  in  1666           Claude  Perrault  died  in  1703 
"      1700           H.  Mansard             "      1708 

ENGRAVERS. 

Gallot 
Nanteuil 

died  in  1635           Audran 
"      1678 

died  in  1703 

MUSICIAN. 

Lulli  died  in  1687. 

§  II.  ENGLAND,  HOLLAND,  GERMANY, 

ITALY,  SPAIN. 

England,  Italy,  and  Spain  follow  France  closely 
in  the  career  of  literature ;  the  two  former  (with 
Holland)  go  beyond  her  in  that  of  the  sciences. 
Notwithstanding  the  appearance  of  some  superior 
men,  the  development  of  Germany  does  not  yet 
commence.  Italy,  in  the  first  half  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  preserves  the  glory  of  painting, 
which  Flanders  shares  with  her. 

1.  Literature. — The  names  of  Bacon  and  Shaks- 
peare  mark  the  first  flight  of  English  genius  ;  but 
the  religious  wars  for  a  long  time  arrest  all  specu- 
lation ;  yet  it  is  to  religious  wars  that  we  must 
ascribe  the  phenomenon  of  Paradise  Lost  (notwith- 


404  SUMMARY    OF 

standing  the  late  appearance  of  this  poem,  1669). 
Under  Charles  II.,  England  is  subjected  to  the  lit- 
erary, as  to  the  political  influence  of  France  ;  and 
this  spirit  of  imitation  exists  in  all  the  classical 
period  of  English  literature  (from  the  accession  of 
Charles  II.  to  the  death  of  Queen  Anne,  1661- 
1714).  In  this  period  England  produced  three 
great  poets  (Dryden,  Addison,  Pope),  many  witty 
and  ingenious  poets,  and  several  distinguished 
prose  writers. 

ENGLISH   POETS. 


Shakspeare 

died  in  1616 

Walter 

died  in  1687 

Denham 

"      1666 

Dryden 

"      1701 

Cowley 

< 

1667 

Rowe 

"      1718 

Milton 

' 

1674 

Addison 

"      1719 

Rochester 

i 

1680 

Prior 

"      1721 

Butler 

1 

1680 

Congreve 

"      1729 

Roscommon 

1 

1684 

Gay 

"      1732 

Otway 

«       1685 

Pope 

"      1744 

ENGLISH   PROS! 

]   WRITERS. 

Clarendon 

died  in  1674 

'  Addison 

"      1719 

Tillotson 

"      1694 

Steele 

"      1729 

Temple 

"      1698 

Swift 

"      1745 

Burnet 

"      1715 

Bolingbroke 

"      1751 

Italian  literature  has  lost  its  brilliancy.  An 
original  and  profound  thinker  (Vico,  died  1744) 
founded  at  Naples  the  philosophy  of  history  ;  we 
remark  some  respectable  historians  in  Italy,  but 
poetry  is  superseded  by  wit  and  affectation. 

ITALIAN   POETS. 

Marini  died  in  1625  Salvator  died  in  1675 

Tawoni  "      1635 


MODERN    HISTORY.  405 

ITALIAN   HISTORIANS. 

Sarpi  died  in  1625  Bentivoglio       died  in  1644 

Davila  "      1634  Nani  "      1678 

Spanish  literature  exhibits  a  prodigy  of  philoso- 
phy and  of  humour  ;  after  the  names  of  Cervantes 
and  the  two  great  tragic  poets,  follow  those  of  sev- 
eral historians. 

SPANISH  WRITERS. 

Cervantes  died  in  1616  Lope  de  Vega  died  in  1635 

Mariana  "       1624  Solis  "       1686 

Herrera  "      1625  Calderon  "      1687 

2.  Philosophy. — England,  prepared  by  theologi- 
cal and  political  controversies,  opens  new  roads 
to  metaphysics  and  political  science.  Germany 
opposes  a  single  man  to  all  the  metaphysicians 
and  philosophers  of  England  (Leibnitz).  A  Dutch- 
man erects  Atheism  into  a  system  (Spinoza),  but 
another  philosopher  of  the  same  nation  (Grotius) 
gives  to  morals  a  scientific  form,  and  shows  that 
it  ought  to  govern  the  interests  as  well  of  soci- 
eties as  of  individuals.  This  new  science,  first 
resting  upon  erudition,  is  afterward  supported  by 
philosophy. 

ENGLISH   PHILOSOPHERS   AND  POLITICIANS. 

Bacon  died  in  1626  Locke  died  in  1704 

Hobbes  "      1679  Shaftesbury  "      1713 

Sidney  "      1683  Clarke  "      1729 

Cudworth  "      1688 

DUTCH  PHILOSOPHERS   AND  POLITICIANS. 

Grotius  died  in  1645  Gravesande      died  in  1742 

Spinoza  "      1677 


406  SUMMARY    OF 

GERMAN  PHILOSOPHERS   AND   POLITICIANS. 

Puffendorf  died  in  1694  Wolf         died  in         1754 

Leibnitz  "  1716 

3.  Sciences. — These  had  in  Bacon  a  legislator 
as  well  as  a  prophet,  but  they  received  their  true 
direction  only  from  Galileo  and  Newton.     A  mul- 
titude of  savants  ranked  themselves  as  followers  of 
these  great  men. 

ENGLISH. 

Bacon  died  in  1626  The  Gregories  died  in  1646, 

Harvey  "      1657  75,1708 

Barrow  "      1677  Newton  died  in  1726 

Boyle  "      1691  Halley  "      1741 

ITALIAN. 

Aldrovandi  died  in  1615  Borelli  died  in  1679 

Sanctorius  "      1636  Viviani  "      1703 

Galileo  "      1642  Cassini  "      1712 

Torricelli  "      1647 

DUTCH. 

Huygens  died  in  1702  Boerhaave        died  in  1758 

GERMAN  AND   DANISH. 

Kepler  died  in  1630  Kirkher  died  in  1680 

TychoBrahe  "      1636  Stahl  "      1735 

4.  Learning. — It  exercises  itself  upon  a  greater 
variety  of  subjects.     The  antiquities  of  the  Middle 
Ages  and  of  the  East  share  the  labours  of  the  learn- 
ed, who,  until  then,  had  been  exclusively  occupied 
with  classical  antiquities.  English  scholars :  Owen, 
Farnaby,  Usher,  Bentley,  Marsham,  Stanley,  Hyde, 
Pococke.  Scholars  of  Holland  and  the  Netherlands  : 
Barlaeus,  Schrevelius,  Heinsius,  the  Vossii.     Ger- 


MODERN    HISTORY. 


407 


man  scholars :  Freinshemius,  Gronovius,  Morhof, 
Fabricius,  Spanheim.  Learned  Italians :  Muratori, 
&c.,  &c. 

5.  Arts.  —  The  decay  of  the  arts  followed  in 
Italy  the  decay  of  literature  ;  painting  alone  was 
an  exception.  Lombard  school.  Flemish  school. 

ITALIAN   PAINTERS. 

Guido  died  in  1642  Guercino           died  in  1666 

L'Albano  "      1647  SalvatorRosa        "      1673 

Lanfranc  "      1647  Bernin,  sculptor,  archi- 

Domenichino  "      1648  tect,  and  painter,       1680 

FLEMISH  PAINTERS. 

Rubens  died  in  1640  Rembrandt       died  in  1688 

VanDyck  "      1641  The  young  Teniers        1694 


The  elder  Teniers 


1649 


PART  II— 1715-1789. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

DISSOLUTION    OF    THE    MONARCHY,    1715-1789. 

IN  the  interval  between  Louis  the  Great  and 
Napoleon  the  Great,  France  descended  a  steep 
declivity,  at  the  bottom  of  which  the  ancient  mon- 
archy, encountering  the  people,  was  shattered  in 
pieces,  and  gave  place  to  the  new  order  of  things 
which  still  prevails.  The  unity  of  the  eighteenth 
century  is  found  in  a  preparation  for  this  grand 
event.  First,  the  literary  and  philosophical  war 
for  religious  liberty;  then  the  great  and  bloody 
battle  for  political  liberty,  a  ruinous  victory  over 
Europe,  and,  in  spite  of  a  transient  reaction,  the 
definite  establishment  of  constitutional  order  and 
civil  equality. 

The  house  of  Orleans  appears  at  the  com- 
mencement, and  again  at  the  close  of  this  period. 

The  Regent — Law. — While  the  deceased  king 
went  alone  and  without  pomp  to  St.  Denis,  the  Duke 
of  Orleans  caused  his  will  to  be  broken  by  the  Par- 
liament. The  policy  of  the  regent,  his  life,  his 


MODERN    HISTORY.  409 

manners,  his  whole  person,  were  entirely  opposed 
to  those  of  the  preceding  reign.  All  the  old  barriers 
fell.  The  regent  invited  private  persons  to  give  their 
advice  upon  public  affairs  ;  he  proclaimed  the  max- 
ims of  Fenelori ;  he  had  Telemaque  printed  at  his 
own  expense  ;  he  opened  the  library  of  the  king  to 
the  public.  The  financiers,  who  under  the  last  reign 
had  enriched  themselves  by  the  misery  of  France, 
were  tried  by  a  hot-headed  chamber,  and  acquitted 
or  condemned  at  random  ;  these  violent  measures 
against  the  financiers  only  increased  the  popularity 
of  the  prince.  But  it  was  not  sufficient  to  con- 
demn them  ;  it  was  necessary  to  replace  them  by 
other  means,  to  look  to  this  debt  of  three  thousand 
millions  which  Louis  XIV.  had  left.  Then  a 
grand  scheme  was  tried  ;  a  Scotch  banker,  named 
Law,  a  disciple,  as  he  said,  of  Locke  and  New- 
ton, came  to  make  in  France  the  first  trial  of 
credit.  He  opened  a  bank,  substituted  bills  for 
money,  and  mortgaged  those  bills  on  an  enterprise 
for  collecting  the  immense  revenues  of  the  king- 
dom, and  on  the  colonial  riches  of  an  unknown 
world.  He  created  the  Mississippi  Company. 
For  the  first  time  men  refused  gold  ;  the  value  of 
the  bills  grew  hourly.  In  the  street  Quincampoix, 
at  the  doors  of  the  offices  where  they  changed 
this  inconvenient  metal  for  paper,  there  were  con- 
stant throngs  of  people.  The  regent  becomes  one 


410  SUMMARY    OF 

of  the  directors  of  the  enterprise,  and  makes  him- 
self a  banker.  Yet  confidence  was  shaken  ;  this 
idolatry  of  paper  had  its  unbelievers  ;  it  fell  rapid- 
ly. Wo  to  the  last  possessors  !  There  was  a 
strange  change :  the  rich  became  poor,  and  the 
poor  rich.  Wealth,  which  had  hitherto  belonged 
to  the  soil,  and  stood  immovable  in  families,  for 
the  first  time  took  wings  ;  she  followed  henceforth 
the  wants  of  commerce  and  industry.  An  analo- 
gous movement  took  place  all  over  Europe ;  the 
minds  of  men,  if  we  may  so  speak,  were  detached 
from  the  earth.  Law,  making  his  escape  from  the 
kingdom  in  the  midst  of  imprecations,  left  behind 
him,  at  least,  this  benefit  (1717-1721). 

Alberoni. — The  regent,  in  his  facility  at  adopting 
new  ideas,  in  his  scientific  curiosity,  in  his  loose 
manners,  is  one  of  the  types  of  the  eighteenth  centu- 
ry. He  enjoins  the  Bull*  out  of  regard  for  the  pope, 
but  is  not  the  less  impious.  His  licentious  friends 
are  nobles  ;  but  his  man,  his  minister,  the  true 
king  of  France,  is  the  rogue  Cardinal  Dubois,  the 
son  of  an  apothecary  of  Brives-la-Gaillarde.  The 
regent  was  naturally  an  ally  of  England,  which, 
under  the  house  of  Hanover,  also  represented  the 
modern  principle,  as  in  Germany  did  the  young 
royalty  of  Prussia,  and  in  the  North,  Russia  crea- 
ted by  Peter  the  Great.  The  common  enemy  was 
Spain,  at  whose  expense  the  peace  of  Utrecht  was 

*  The  bull  Unigenitus,  &c. 


MODERN   HISTORY.  411 

made.  Spain  and  France,  enemies,  although  re- 
lations, regarded  each  other  with  a  hostile  eye. 
The  Spanish  minister,  the  intriguing  Alberoni,  un- 
dertook to  restore  the  old  principle  over  all  Europe. 
He  wished  to  give  back  to  Spain  all  she  had  lost, 
to  give  the  regency  of  France  to  Philip  V.  ;  he 
wished  to  re-establish  the  Pretender  in  England. 
To  accomplish  this,  Alberoni  counted  on  hiring  the 
best  swordsman  of  the  time,  on  taking  into  pay 
the  Swede,  Charles  XII.  ;  this  royal  adventurer 
was  to  be  paid  by  Spain,  as  Gustavus  Adolphus  had 
been  by  France.  This  vast  project  failed  entirely. 
Charles  XII.  was  killed ;  the  Pretender  failed  in 
his  attempts ;  the  Spanish  ambassador  was  taken 
in  the  act  of  conspiring  with  the  Duchess  of 
Maine,  the  wife  of  a  legitimated  son  of  Louis 
XIV.  ;  this  little  and  spirited  princess  had  be- 
lieved that,  from  her  academy  at  Sceaux,  she 
might  change  the  face  of  Europe.  The  Me  moires 
of  the  Fronde,  which  had  just  appeared,  excited 
her  emulation.  The  regent  and  Dubois,  who  felt 
neither  hatred  nor  friendship,  found  all  this  so  ridic- 
ulous that  they  punished  no  one  except  some  poor 
gentlemen  from  Brittany,  who  were  the  most  con- 
spicuous in  the  conspiracy  (1718).  France,  Eng- 
land, Holland,  the  emperor,  all  united  against  Al- 
beroni, and  formed  the  quadruple  alliance.  Yet, 
in  1720,  Spain  obtained  for  her  consolation  Tus- 


412  SUMMARY   OF 

cany,  Parma,  and  Plaisance,  and  the  emperor,  in 
giving  her  the  investiture  of  these  states,  forced 
the  Duke  of  Savoy  to  take  Sardinia  in  exchange 
for  Sicily.  Europe  was  determined  to  have  peace, 
and  it  was  agreed  for  at  any  price. 

Ministry  of  the  Duke  of  Bourbon  and  of  Fleury, 
1725-45.— rThe  oppressive  and  unskilful  ministry 
of  the  Duke  of  Bourbon,  who  governed  after  the 
death  of  the  regent  (1723-26),  was  soon  replaced 
by  that  of  the  prudent  and  circumspect  Henry,  ex- 
preceptor  of  the  young  king,  who  quietly  seized 
both  upon  the  king  and  the  kingdom  (1726-1745). 
Louis  XV.,  who  to  his  seventh  year  walked  in 
leading  strings,  and  to  his  twelfth  year  wore  a  waist 
of  whalebone,  was  destined  to  be  led  during  all 
his  lifetime.  Under  the  economical  and  timid  gov- 
ernment of  the  old  priest,  France  was  only  troub- 
led by  the  affair  of  the  bull,  the  convulsions  of 
Jansenism,  and  the  remonstrances  of  Parliament. 
France,  asleep  under  Henry,  was  united  to  Eng- 
land, asleep  under  Walpole  ;  an  unequal  union, 
from  which  France  drew  not  the  least  advantage. 
England  was  at  that  time  the  admiration  of  the 
French ;  they  went  to  study  with  the  free-thinkers 
of  Great  Britain,  as  once  the  Greek  philosopher 
did  with  the  Egyptian  priests.  Voltaire  went 
there  to  study  Locke,  Newton,  and  his  tragedy  of 
Brutus  (1730).  The  president,  Montesquieu,  more 


MODERN    HISTORY.  413 

circumspect  since  the  publication  of  his  Persian 
Letters  (published  in  1721),  found  in  England  a 
model  for  the  imitation  of  all  nations.  No  one 
thought  of  Germany,  where  Leibnitz  was  dead, 
nor  of  Italy,  where  Vico  lived. 

There  were  so  many  causes  for  war  in  the 
midst  of  this  great  calmr  that  a  single  spark  from 
the  North  wrapped  Europe  in  flames. 

France  sustains  Stanislaus  —  Stanislaus  obtains 
Lorraine.  —  Under  the  ministry  of  the  Duke  of 
Bourbon,  a  court  intrigue  had  induced  the  mar- 
riage of  the  King  of  France  to  the  daughter  of  a 
prince  without  a  kingdom,  Stanislaus  Lesczinski, 
whom  Charles  XII.  for  an  instant  had  made  King 
of  Poland,  and  who  had  retired  to  France.  At 
the  death  of  Augustus  II.  (1733),  the  party  of 
Stanislaus  arose  in  opposition  to  that  of  Augustus 
III.,  elector  of  Saxony,  son  of  the  deceased  king. 
Stanislaus  had  sixty  thousand  votes.  Villars  and 
the  old  generals  pushed  into  war  ;  they  pretended 
that  they  could  not  dispense  with  supporting  the 
father-in-law  of  the  King  of  France.  Henry  suf- 
fered himself  to  be  driven  into  it ;  he  did  too  little 
to  succeed,  but  sufficient  to  compromise  the  French 
name.  He  sent  three  millions  of  money  and  fifteen 
thousand  men  against  fifty  thousand  Russians.  A 
Frenchman,  who  was  accidentally  present  at  the 
arrival  of  the  French  troops  (the  Count  de  Plelo, 
MM2 


414  SUMMARY    OF 

ambassador  in  Denmark),  blushing  for  France,  pla- 
ced himself  at  their  head,  and  was  killed. 

Spain  declared  herself  for  Stanislaus  against 
Austria,  that  supported  Augustus.  This  distant 
war  in  Poland  was  a  pretext  for  her  to  recover 
her  possessions  in  Italy ;  she  succeeded  partly, 
through  the  aid  of  France.  While  Villars  was  in- 
vading Milan,  the  Spaniards  retook  both  Sicilies, 
and  established  there  the  Infant  Don  Carlos  (1734 
-1735).  They  kept  this  conquest  by  the  treaty  of 
Vienna  (1738).  Stanislaus,  as  a  recompense  for 
the  throne  of  Poland,  received  Lorraine,  which  at 
his  death  would  belong  to  France  ;  the  Duke  of 
Lorraine,  Francois,  son-in-law  of  the  emperor,  and 
husband  of  the  famous  Maria  Theresa,  had  Tus- 
cany in  exchange,  as  a  fief  of  the  Empire.  The 
last  of  the  Medicis  had  died  without  posterity. 
Henry  hastened  to  make  a  treaty  to  secure  the 
two  Sicilies  to  the  Bourbons  of  Spain,  in  spite 
of  the  jealousy  of  the  English.  Add  to  this  that 
ten  thousand  Russians  had  advanced  as  far  as  the 
Rhine.  It  thus  became  apparent,  for  the  first  time, 
that  this  European  Asia  could  stretch  her  long 
arms  beyond  Germany,  even  to  France. 

Thus  France,  though  superannuated  with  Fleury 
and  Villars,  under  a  minister  of  eighty  years,  and 
a  general  as  old,  had  still  gained  Lorraine.  Spain, 
renovated  by  the  house  of  Bourbon,  had  gained 


MODERN    HISTORY.  415 

two  kingdoms  from  Austria.  Austria,  still  under  the 
house  of  Charles  V.,  represented  the  old  European 
principle,  which  was  destined  to  perish  in  order  to 
make  room  for  modern  principles.  The  Emperor 
Charles  VI. ,  full  of  fears  like  Charles  II.  of  Spain  in 
1700,  had,  at  the  price  of  the  greatest  sacrifices, 
endeavoured  to  secure  his  estates  to  his  daughter 
Maria  Theresa,  wife  of  the  Duke  of  Lorraine,  who 
had  become  Duke  of  Tuscany. 

Growing  Strength  of  Prussia  —  Frederic  II. — 
In  face  of  ancient  Austria  rose  Prussia,  a  Ger- 
man, Slavonian,  and  French  state,  in  the  middle 
of  Germany.  No  country  had  received  more  refu- 
gees after  the  repeal  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes.  Prus- 
sia was  destined  to  renew  the  ancient  Saxon  op- 
position to  the  emperors.  This  state,  though  poor, 
and  without  any  natural  barrier,  which  could  oppose 
to  an  enemy  neither  the  canals  of  Holland  nor  the 
mountains  of  Savoy,  had  nevertheless  grown  and 
extended,  a  pure  creation  of  politics,  of  war,  that  is 
to  say,  of  will,  of  human  liberty  triumphing  over  na- 
ture. The  first  king,  William,  was  a  hard  and  bru- 
tal soldier,  who  had  spent  thirty  years  in  amassing 
money,  and  in  disciplining  his  troops  with  the  blows 
of  his  cane.  This  founder  of  Prussia  regarded 
the  state  as  a  regiment.  He  feared  that  his  son 
would  not  continue  the  same  policy,  and  was  tempt- 
ed to  behead  him,  as  the  Czar  Peter  did  his  son 


416  SUMMARY    OF 

Alexis.  This  son,  who  was  Frederic  II.,  did  not 
please  his  father,  who  valued  only  height  and 
strength,  and  who  everywhere  collected  men  of  six 
feet  to  compose  regiments  of  giants.  The  young 
Frederic  was  small  in  stature,  with  broad  shoul- 
ders, with  a  large  hand  and  piercing  eyes— a  strange 
figure.  He  was  a  wit,  a  musician,  a  philosopher, 
with  immoral  and  frivolous  tastes,  a  great  compo- 
ser of  trifling  French  verses  ;  he  had  no  knowledge 
of  Latin,  and  despised  the  German  language  ;  a 
simple  logician,  who  could  neither  attain  the  beauty 
of  ancient  art  nor  the  depth  of  modern  science. 
Yet  he  had  something  for  which  he  merited  his 
title  of  Great :  -he  willed.  He  would  be  brave  ;  he 
would  make  Prussia  one  of  the  first  states  of  Eu- 
rope ;  he  would  be  a  legislator  ;  he  would  that  his 
deserts  of  Prussia  should  be  peopled  ;  and  he  ac- 
complished all.  He  was  one  of  the  founders  of 
the  military  art  between  Turenne  and  Napoleon. 
When  Napoleon  entered  Berlin,  he  only  wished 
to  see  the  tomb  of  Frederic  ;  he  took  his  sword  for 
himself,  and  said,  "  This  is  mine." 

Prussia  was  a  new  state,  which  owed  its  most 
industrious  citizens  to  the  revocation  of  the  Edict  of 
Nantes  ;  it  was  sooner  or  later  to  become  the  centre  • 
of  modem  false  philosophy.  Frederic  II.  com- 
prehended the  part  he  had  to  play ;  he  declared 
himself  in  poetry  and  in  philosophy  the  disciple  of 


MODERN    HISTORY.  417 

Voltaire  ;  this  was  to  make  court  to  current  opin- 
ions :  in  this  the  frivolous  tastes  of  Frederic  serv- 
ed his  most  serious  projects.  The  Emperor  Julian 
had  been  the  ape  of  Marcus  Aurelius  ;  Frederic 
was  that  of  Julian.  At  first,  in  honour  of  the  An- 
tonines,  whom  Voltaire  proposed  to  him  as  models, 
he  wrote  a  sentimental  and  moral  book  against 
Machiavel.  Voltaire,  in  his  simple  enthusiasm,  re- 
vised the  proof  sheets,  lauded  the  royal  author,  and 
promised  a  Titus  to  the  world.  At  his  accession, 
Frederic  wished  to  destroy  the  edition. 

Maria  Theresa  and  Frederic,  1740. — The  same 
year  the  Emperor  Charles  VI.  died,  and  Frederic 
became  king  (1740).  All  the  states  that  had  guar- 
antied the  throne  to  Maria  Theresa  took  arms 
against  her.  The  moment  seemed  to  have  arrived 
to  cut  the  great  body  of  Austria  in  pieces.  All 
hasten  to  the  carnage.  The  most  antiquated  claims 
are  revived  :  Spain  claims  Bohemia  and  Hungary  ; 
the  King  of  Sardinia,  Milan ;  Frederic,  Silesiu  ; 
France  demands  nothing  save  the  Empire  itself  for 
the  Elector  of  Bavaria,  a  client  of  her  kings  for  more 
than  half  a  century.  The  elector  was  chosen  with- 
out difficulty,  arid,  at  the  same  time,  was  named 
general-in-chief  of  the  King  of  France.  Two 
brothers,  named  Belle-Isle,  disturbed  France  with 
their  chimerical  projects.  Fleury  made  war  for  the 
second  time  in  spite  of  himself,  and,  as  in  the  first3he 


418  SUMMARY    OF 

caused  it  to  miscarry.  The  French  army  was  bad- 
ly paid  arid  badly  fed,  and  after  some  easy  success- 
es, it  dispersed  itself  in  every  place  where  it  could 
subsist :  it  left  Vienna  on  one  side,  and  forced  its 
way  into  Bohemia ;  on  the  other  side,  Frederic,  con- 
queror at  Molwitz,  lays  his  hand  on  Silesia  (174*1). 

Maria  Theresa  was  alone  ;  her  cause  seemed 
lost.  With  child  at  the  time,  she  believed  "  that 
there  would  not  remain  a  city  for  her  to  be  confined 
in."  But  England  and  Holland  could  not  see  the 
triumph  of  France  with  indifference.  The  pacific 
Walpole  falls,  subsidies  are  given  to  Maria  There- 
sa, an  English  squadron  forces  the  King  of  Naples 
to  neutrality.  The  King  of  Prussia,  who  has  ob- 
tained what  he  wished,  makes  peace.  The  French, 
who  wait  in  vain  in  Bohemia,  lose  Prague,  and 
return  with  great  difficulty  over  the  snow.  Belle- 
Isle,  therefore,  was  at  liberty  to  compare  himself  to 
Xenophon  (1742). 

The  English  land  on  the  Continent,  and  place 
themselves  at  Dettingen,  in  the  midst  of  the  French 
army,  which  suffered  them  to  escape  and  itself  to  be 
beaten  (1743).  The  French  troops  were  thrown 
back  on  this  side  the  Rhine,  and  the  poor  Em- 
peror of  Bavaria  was  abandoned  to  the  vengeance 
of  Austria. 

The  King  of  Prussia  did  not  count  on  this.  Ma- 
ria Theresa  had  again  become  so  strong  that  she 


MODERN    HISTORY.  419 

could  not  fail  to  retake  Silesia  from  him.  He  placed 
himself,  therefore,  by  the  side  of  France  and  Bava- 
ria, and  returned  to  the  charge  ;  he  entered  Bohe- 
mia, and  assured  himself  of  Silesia  by  three  victo- 
ries, invaded  Saxony,  and  forced  the  empress  and 
the  Saxons  to  sign  the  treaty  of  Dresden.  The  Ba- 
varian being  dead,  the  Austrian  caused  her  husband 
to  be  made  emperor  (Francis  I.,  1745). 

In  the  mean  time  the  French  had  the  advantage 
in  Italy.  Seconded  by  the  Spaniards,  the  King  of 
Naples,  and  the  Genoese,  they  established  the  In- 
fant Don  Philip  in  the  dukedoms  of  Milan  and 
Parma.  In  the  Netherlands,  under  the  Marshal 
of  Saxony,  they  gained  the  battles  of  Fontenois  and 
Raucoux  (1745-6).  The  former,  so  celebrated, 
would  have  been  lost  without  remedy,  if  an  Irish- 
man, named  Lally,  moved  by  his  hatred  of  the  Eng- 
lish, had  not  proposed  to  break  their  columns  with 
four  pieces  of  cannon.  An  artful  courtier,  the  Duke 
of  Richelieu  appropriated  this  conception  and  the 
glory  of  this  success  to  himself.  The  Irishman, 
sword  in  hand,  entered  the  English  columns  first. 
In  the  same  year,  France  hurled  on  England  her 
most  formidable  enemy,  the  Pretender.  The  High- 
landers of  Scotland  welcomed  him,  rushed  from 
their  mountains  with  an  irresistible  impetuosity, 
swept  cannons  from  their  course,  and  demolished 
squadrons  with  their  swords,  This  success  was 


420  SUMMARY  OF 

necessary  for  France.  Her  navy  was  reduced  to 
nothing.  Lally  obtained  some  vessels,  but  the  Eng- 
lish guarded  the  sea ;  they  prevented  the  Scotch 
from  receiving  succour.  They  had  over  the  Scotch 
the  advantage  of  numbers  and  wealth,  a  good  cav- 
alry and  a  good  artillery.  They  conquered  at  Cul- 
loden  (1745-46.) 

Peace  ofAix-la-Chapette,'l718.—The  Spaniards 
withdrew  from  Italy.  The  French  were  driven 
from  it.  They  advanced  in  the  Netherlands.  Eng- 
land feared  for  Holland,  and  re-established  there  the 
stadtholdership.  The  success  of  France  against 
Holland  served  at  least  to  bring  about  peace.  She 
had  lost  her  navy,  her  colonies ;  the  Russians  for 
the  second  time  had  appeared  on  the  Rhine.  The 
peace  of  Aix-la-Chapelle  gave  back  to  France  her 
colonies,  assured  Silesia  to  Prussia,  Parma  and  Plai- 
sance  to  the  Bourbons  of  Spain.  Against  all  hope 
Austria  still  maintained  herself  (1748). 

Philosophical  and  Literary  France. — France  had 
had  painful  experience  of  her  weakness,  but  she 
would  not  profit  by  it.  The  government  of  the  old 
priest  was  succeeded  by  that  of  the  king's  mis- 
tresses. Mile.  Poisson,  marchioness  of  Pompadour, 
reigned  twenty  years.  Born  a  citizen,  she  had 
some  feelings  of  patriotism.  Her  creature,  the 
comptroller  Machant,  wished  to  impose  taxes  on 
the  clergy  $  D'Argenson  directed  the  administration 


MODERN    HISTORY.  421 

of  the  war  with  the  talent  and  severity  of  Louvois 
In  the  midst  of  the  little  war  between  the  Parlia- 
ment and  clergy,  false  philosophy  gained  ground. 
At  the  court  even,  it  had  partisans ;  the  king, 
enemy  as  he  was  to  new  opinions,  had  his  small 
printing-press,  and  printed  himself  the  economical 
theories  of  his  physician,  Quesnay,  who  proposed 
a  tax  to  be  levied  upon  land ;  the  nobility  and 
clergy,  principal  proprietors  of  land,  must  pay 
most  of  it.  All  these  schemes  only  ended  in  vain 
conversations  ;  the  old  corporations  resisted  ;  roy- 
alty, caressed  by  the  philosophers,  who  wished  to 
arm  it  against  the  clergy,  experienced  a  vague  ter- 
ror at  the  view  of  their  progress.  Voltaire  pre- 
pared a  general  antichristian  history  (Essay  on 
Manners,  1756).  By  degrees,  the  new  philoso- 
phy emerged  from  this  polemical  form,  to  which 
Voltaire  had  reduced  it.  In  1748,  the  President 
Montesquieu,  the  founder  of  the  Academy  of 
Natural  Sciences  at  Bordeaux,  gave,  though  in  a 
disconnected  and  timid  form,  a  materialist  theory 
of  legislation,  drawn  from  the  influence  of  cli- 
mates ;  such  is  at  least  the  predominant  idea  of 
the  Spirit  of  the  Laws :  a  book,  so  ingenious,  so 
brilliant,  sometimes  so  profound.  In  1749  the  co- 
lossal Natural  History  of  Buffbn  appeared  ;  in  1751 
the  first  volumes  of  the  Encyclopaedia,  a  gigantic 
monument,  which  was  to  contain  the  whole  of  the 
NN 


422  SUMMARY    OF 

eighteenth  century,  polemics  and  dogmatics,  econo- 
my and  mathematics,  irreligion  and  philanthropy, 
atheism  and  pantheism,  D'Alembert  and  Diderot. 
Condillac  had  briefly  expressed  all  that  the  age 
comprises:  Treatise  of  Sensations,  1754.  In  the,' 
mean  time  the  religious  war  was  continued  by 
Voltaire,  who  had  posted  himself  at  the  central 
point  of  observation  in  Europe,  between  France, 
Switzerland,  and  Germany,  at  the  entrance  of 
Geneva,  and  in  the  chief  place  of  the  ancient 
Vaudois,  of  Arnold  of  Brescia,  of  Zwingle,  and  of 
Calvin. 

Seven  Years'  War,  1756. — This  was  the  height 
of  the  power  of  Frederic.  Since  his  conquest 
in  Silesia  he  had  lost  all  prudence.  In  his 
strange  court  at  Potsdam,  this  witty  warrior  scof- 
fed at  God,  at  the  philosophers,  and  at  his  brother 
sovereigns  ;  he  had  used  Voltaire  ill,  who  was  the 
principal  organ  of  opinion  ;  he  assailed  in  his  epi- 
grams both  kings  and  queens  ;  he  believed  neither 
in  the  beauty  of  Madame  Pompadour,  nor  in  the 
poetical  genius  of  the  Abbe  Bernis,  the  prime  min- 
ister of  France.  The  opportunity  seemed  favour- 
able for  the  empress  to  recover  Silesia.  She  ex- 
cited all  Europe,  and  the  queens  above  all ;  she 
enlisted  the  Queen  of  Poland  and  the  Empress 
of  Russia  ;  she  courted  the  mistress  of  Louis  XV. 
The  monstrous  alliance  of  France  with  Austria 


MODERN    HISTORY.  423 

against  a  sovereign  who  maintained  the  equilib- 
rium of  Germany,  seemed  to  unite  all  Europe 
against  him.  England  alone  aided  him,  and  gave 
him  subsidies.  England  was  at  that  time  govern- 
ed by  a  gouty  lawyer,  the  famous  William  Pitt, 
afterward  Earl  of  Chatham,  who  raised  himself 
by  the  power  of  his  eloquence  and  his  hatred  to- 
wards the  French.  England  desired  two  things  : 
the  preservation  of  the  European  equilibrium,  and 
the  ruin  of  the  French  and  Spanish  colonies.  Her 
grievances  were  great ;  the  Spaniards  had  ill 
treated  some  of  her  subjects  who  were  engaged  in 
contraband  trade,  and  the  French  in  Canada  pre- 
vented them  from  building  on  their  territory.  In  the 
Indies,  La  Bourdonnaie,  and  his  successor  Dupleix, 
threatened  to  found  a  great  power  in  face  of  the 
English.  The  English,  as  a  declaration  of  war, 
confiscated  three  hundred  French  vessels  (1756). 
It  was  amazing  to  behold  in  this  war  the  little 
kingdom  of  Prussia,  amid  the  masses  of  Austria, 
of  France,  of  Russia,  going  from  one  to  another, 
and  confronting  all.  This  is  the  second  epoch  of 
the  military  art.  The  simple  adversaries  of  Fred- 
eric believed  that  he  owed  all  his  success  to  the 
precision  of  the  manoeuvres  of  the  Prussian  sol- 
diers, to  their  skill  in  military  tactics,  in  firing  five 
times  in  a  minute.  Frederic  had  certainly  per- 
fected the  soldier  as  a  machine.  But  this  could  be 


424  SUMMARY    OF 

imitated;  the  Czar  Peter  III.,  and  the  Count  St. 
Germain,  made  automaton  soldiers  by  a  free  use 
of  the  cane.  What  they  could  not  imitate  was  the 
quickness  of  his  manoeuvres  and  his  well-ordered 
marches,  which  gave  him  great  facility  in  concen- 
trating those  rapid  masses  on  the  weak  side  of 
the  enemy. 

In  this  terrible  chase  which  the  great  armies  of 
the  allies  gave  Prussia,  we  cannot  avoid  remarking 
the  amusing  circumspection  of  the  Austrian  tacti- 
cians, and  the  rash  folly  of  the  great  lords  who 
conducted  the  armies  of  France.  The  Fabius  of 
Austria,  the  wise  and  sluggish  Daun,  limited  him- 
self to  a  war  of  opposition;  he  found  no  camp 
strong  enough,  no  mountains  inaccessible  enough ; 
Frederic  always  beat  those  paralytic  armies. 

Rosbach,  1757. — First,  he  rid  himself  of  the 
Saxons.  He  did  them  no  injury  ;  he  only  disarm-* 
ed  them.  Then  he  struck  a  blow  at  Bohemia. 
Repulsed,  abandoned  by  the  English  army,  which, 
had  decided  at  Closterseven  to  fight  no  longer, 
threatened  by  the  Russians,  conquered  at  Zaegern- 
dorf,  he  went  to  Saxony,  and  there  found  the 
French  and  Imperialists  united.  Four  armies  sur- 
rounded Prussia.  Frederic  believed  himself  lost ; 
he  wished  to  put  an  end  to  his  existence  ;  he  wrote 
so  to  his  sister,  and  to  Argens.  He  only  feared 
one  thing :  that  after  his  death  the  great  distributer 


MODERN    HISTORY.  425 

of  glory,  Voltaire,  would  not  perpetuate  his  name  ; 
he  wrote  an  epistle  to  appease  him,  thus  imitating 
Julian,  who,  when  mortally  wounded,  drew  from 
his  robe  and  pronounced  a  discourse  which  he 
had  composed  for  such  an  occasion.  "  As  regards 
myself,"  said  Frederic,  "  as  regards  myself,  threat- 
ened by  shipwreck,  it  is  my  duty,  facing  the  storm, 
to  think,  live,  and  die  as  a  king!"  The  epistle 
finished,  he  defeated  the  enemy.  The  Prince 
of  Soubise,  expecting  to  see  him  fly,  rashly  pur- 
sued him  ;  then  the  Prussians  unmask  their 
troops,  kill  three  thousand  men,  and  take  seven 
thousand.  They  found  in  the  camp  an  army  of 
cooks,  comedians,  and  hairdressers,  a  quantity  of 
parrots  and  umbrellas,  and  I  know  not  how  many 
cases  of  lavender  water  (1757). 

The  tactician  alone  can  follow  the  King  of  Prus- 
sia in  this  series  of  beautiful  and  scientific  battles. 
The  Seven  Years'  War,  whatever  the  variety  of  its 
vicissitudes  may  be,  was  a  war  of  policy  and  of 
strategy ;  it  had  not  the  interest  of  wars  of  opin- 
ion, nor  of  those  wars  for  religion  and  liberty  which 
occur  in  the  sixteenth  century,  and  in  our  own. 

Family  Compact,  1761. — The  defeat  at  Rosbach 
renewed  at  Crevelt — great  reverses,  balanced  by 
trifling  advantages — the  total  ruin  of  the  French 
navy  and  of  the  French  colonies — the  English 
masters  of  the  seas  and  conquerors  of  India — the 
NN2 


426  SUMMARY    OF 

"V 

we&Kness,  the  humiliation  of  all  old  Europe  before 
young  Prussia — this  is  the  Seven  Years'  War.  It 
terminated  under  the  ministry  of  M.  de  Choiseul. 
This  minister,  a  man  of  spirit  and  talent,  thought  to 
strike  a  great  blow  by  arranging  the  family  compact 
between  the  different  branches  of  the  house  of 
Bourbon  (1761). 

In  the  midst  of  the  humiliations  of  the  Seven 
Years'  War>  and  even  by  means  of  these  humilia- 
tions, the  drama  of  the  age  makes  rapid  strides  to- 
wards its  development.  Who  had  been  conquered 
in  this  and  the  preceding  war  ?  France  1  No,  but 
the  nobility,  who  alone  furnished  the  officers,  the 
generals.  The  enemies  of  France  could  not  ques- 
tion French  bravery  after  Chevert  and  D'Assas. 
Had  one  not  seen,  in  the  combat  of  the  exiles, 
French  soldiers  climbing  the  Alps  under  showers 
of  grapeshot  with  which  the  cannons  were  loaded, 
and  leaping  on  the  cannons  of  the  enemy  even 
through  the  embrasures,  while  the  pieces  recoiled  ? 
As;to  the  generals,  the  only  ones  that  we  can  ven- 
ture to  name  at  this  epoch  are  Saxe  and  Broglie, 
who  were  foreigners.  He  who  appropriated  to  him- 
self the  glory  of  Fontenoi,  the  great  general  of  the 
century,  according  to  the  saying  of  women  and  of 
courtiers,  the  conqueror  of  Mahon,  the  old  Alcibia- 
des  of  the  old  Voltaire,  Richelieu,  had  shown  suffi- 
ciently, during  the  five  campaigns  of  the  last  war, 


MODERN    HISTORY.  427 

what  one  ought  to  think  of  a  reputation  so  skilful- 
ly got  up.  These  campaigns  were  at  least  lucra- 
tive ;  he  brought  back  enough  from  them  to  build 
on  the  boulevards  of  Paris  the  elegant  pavilion  of 
Hanover. 

J.  J.  Rousseau. —  Towards  the  end  of  this  ig- 
noble war  of  seven  years,  in  which  the  aristocracy 
had  fallen  so  low,  the  great  plebeian  mind  burst 
forth.  It  was  as  if  France  had  cried  to  Europe, 
"  It  is  not  Iwho  am  conquered  !"  In  1750,  the  son 
of  a  watchmaker  of  Geneva,  John  Jacques  Rous- 
seau, a  vagrant,  scribe,  and  footman  by  turns,  had 
cursed  all  science  in  his  hatred  of  a  spurious  philos- 
ophy, and  of  the  caste  of  literary  men  ;  then  he 
cursed  all  inequality  in  his  hatred  of  a  degenerated 
nobility  (1754).  This  rage  for  levelling  streamed 
in  torrents  through  the  letters  of  his  New  Heloise 
(1759).  Naturalism  is  expounded  in  his  Emily, 
Deism  in  the  profession  of  the  faith  of  the  Savoy- 
ard Vicar  (1762).  In  the  Social  Contract,  finally, 
appeared  the  three  maxims  of  the  Revolution,  traced 
by  a  fiery  hand. 

The  Revolution  advanced  so  irresistibly,  that  the 
king,  who  foresaw  it  with  terror,  worked  for  it  in 
spite  of  himself,  and  opened  its  path.  In  1763  he 
founded  for  it  his  temple,  the  Pantheon,  which  was 
to  receive  Rousseau  and  Voltaire.  In  1764  he  ex- 
(  pelled  the  Jesuits ;  in  1771  he  abolished  the  Parlia- 


428  SUMMARY    OF 

ment.  A  tractable  instrument  of  necessity,  he 
overthrew  with  an  indifferent  hand  whatever  yet  re- 
mained standing  of  the  ruins  of  the  Middle  Ages. 
Abolition  of  the  Jesuits,  1764. — The  society  of  the 
Jesuits,  which  was  believed  to  be  so  deeply  rooted, 
was  annihilated  without  a  blow  through  all  Europe. 
The  Templars  had  perished  in  like  manner  in  the 
fourteenth  century,  when  the  system  to  which  they 
belonged  had  lasted  its  time.  The  Jesuits  were 
given  up  to  the  parliaments,  their  deadly  enemies. 
But,  at  the  same  time  that  the  stones  of  Port  Roy- 
al had  fallen  on  the  heads  of  the  Jesuits,  the  down- 
fall of  the  latter  was  fatal  to  the  parliaments. 
These  corporations,  encouraged  by  their  increasing 
popularity  and  by  their  recent  victory,  would  move 
along  the  old  paths.  The  imperfect  balance  of  the 
old  monarchy  encountered  the  elastic  opposition  of 
the  parliaments,  who  remonstrated,  adjourned,  and 
ended  by  respectfully  yielding.  Some  courageous 
and  decided  men,  among  others  Breton  la  Chalo- 
tais,  undertook  to  lead  them  farther.  In  the  trial 
of  the  Duke  of  Aiguillon  they  stood  firm  ;  they  were 
broken  up  (1771).  It  was  not  to  the  judges  of 
Lally,  of  Galas,  of  Sirven,  of  Labarre,  that  it  be- 
longed to  achieve  the  Revolution,  still  less  to  the 
coterie  that  overthrew  them.  The  spirited  Abbe 
Terray,  and  the  jovial  Chancellor  Maupeou,  allies  of 
the  Duke  of  Aiguillon  and  Madame  du  Barray,  were 


MODERN    HISTORY.  429 

not  honest  enough  to  have  the  privilege  of  doing 
good.  Terray,  who  had  charge  of  the  finances,  rem- 
edied the  disorder  a  little,  but  did  it  through  bank- 
ruptcy. Maupeou  abolished  the  venality  of  offices., 
and  dispensed  justice  gratuitously,  but  no  one  would 
believe  that  it  was  gratuitous  in  the  hands  of  the 
creatures  of  Maupeou.  All  the  world  ridiculed  their 
reforms  ;  no  one  more  than  themselves.  Irrepres- 
sible laughter  burst  forth  at  the  appearance  of  the 
Memoirs  of  Beaumarchais.  Louis  XV.  read  them, 
as  did  everybody,  and  was  much  amused  with 
them.  This  egotistical  monarch  perceived  the 
growing  danger  of  the  crown  more  clearly  than  any 
one,  but  he  judged  with  reason,  that,  after  all,  it 
would  outlast  him  (died  in  1774). 

Louis  XVI. ,  1774.: — His  unfortunate  successor, 
Louis  XVI.,  inherited  all  this  danger.  Many  peo- 
ple had  conceived  sad  forebodings  on  the  occasion 
of  his  marriage  fetes,  when  several  hundred  per- 
sons were  suffocated.  Yet  the  accession  of  the 
honest  young  king,  seating  himself  with  his  grace- 
ful queen  on  the  throne,  now  happily  purged  of  Lou- 
is XV.,  had  excited  in  the  country  immense  hope. 
For  a  society  jaded  and  worn  out,  this  was  an 
epoch  of  happiness  and  genuine  emotion.  It  cried, 
admired  itself  and  its  tears,  and  believed  itself 
a-gain  young.  The  fashionable  style  was  the  idyl ; 
at  first,  the  insipidity  of  Florian,  the  innocence  of 


430  SUMMARY    OF 

Gesner,  then  the  immortal  eclogue  of  Paul  and 
Virginia.  The  queen  built  herself  a  hamlet,  and 
bought  a  farm  in  Trianon.  The  philosophers  con- 
ducted the  plough  by  writing.  "  Choiseul  is  hus- 
bandman, and  Voltaire  is  farmer."  All  the  world 
interested  itself  for  the  people,  loved  the  people, 
wrote  for  the  people.  Benevolence  was  fashion- 
able ;  they  gave  small  alms  and  great  feasts. 

While  the  higher  circles  enjoyed  this  sentiment- 
al comedy,  that  great  movement  of  the  world  con- 
tinued, which  was  about  to  sweep  away  every- 
thing in  a  moment.  The  true  confidant  of  the 
public,  the  confidant  of  Beaumarchais,  grew  daily 
more  bitter;  he  changed  from  comedy  to  satire, 
from  satire  to  the  tragical  drama.  Royalty,  Par- 
liament, nobility,  all  staggered  with  weakness  ;  the 
•world  was  as  if  intoxicated.  Philosophy  even 
sickened  under  the  poison  of  Rousseau  and  Gil- 
bert. Men  believed  no  more  in  religion  or  irre- 
ligion ;  they  wished  to  believe,  however ;  strong 
minds  went  incognito  to  seek  for  creeds  in  the 
phantasmagoria  of  Cagliostro,  and  in  the  trough  of 
Mesmer.  In  the  mean  time,  the  everlasting  dia- 
logue of  rational  skepticism  resounded  through 
France  ;  the  evident  dogmatism  of  Kant  responded 
to  the  nihilism  of  Hume,  and  over  all  rose  the  great 
poetical  voice  of  Goethe,  harmonious,  immoral,  and 
indifferent.  France,  in  commotion  and  precccu- 


MODERN    HISTORY.  431 

pied,  heard  nothing  of  all  this.     Germany  pursued 
.  the  scientific  epic  poem  ;  France  worked  out  the 
social  drama. 

Turgot  —  Necker.  —  What  gives  a  comic  air  to 
the  gloom  of  these  last  days  of  the  old  society,  is 
the  contrast  between  great  promises  and  complete 
inefficiency.  Inefficiency  is  a  common  trait  of  all 
the  ministers  of  that  time.  All  promise,  and  can 
do  nothing.  M.  de  Choiseul  would  defend  Po- 
land, humble  England,  exalt  France  by  a  European 
war,  when  he  could  not  defray  the  expenses  of 
the  day  ;  if  he  had  wished  to  execute  his  projects, 
the  Parliament,  who  sustained  him,  would  have 
abandoned  him.  Maupeou  and  Terray  dissolved 
the  Parliament,  and  could  find  nothing  to  replace 
it ;  they  wished  to  reform  the  finances,  and  they 
had  to  rely  on  none  but  the  robbers  of  the  public 
treasury.  Under  Louis  XVI.,  the  great,  the  hon- 
est, the  sanguine  Turgot  (1774-1776),  proposes 
the  true  remedy — economy,  and  the  abolition  of 
privileges.  To  whom  does  he  propose  them  ? 
To  the  privileged  party,  who  overthrow  him.  In 
the  mean  time,  necessity  obliged  them  to  call  to 
their  aid  an  able  banker,  an  eloquent  foreigner,  al 
second  Law,  but  more  honest.  Neckar  promises 
wonders  :  he  encourages  everybody,  he  announces 
no  sweeping  reform,  he  proceeds  gently.  He  in- 
spires confidence,  he  has  recourse  to  credit,  he 


432  SUMMARY    OF 

finds  money,  he  borrows.  Confidence  and  a  good 
administration  would  augment  commerce  —  com- 
merce would  create  resources.  Short  loans  were 
made  on  the  strength  of  casual,  slow,  and  distant 
resources.  Neckar  finished  by  relinquishing  his 
own  plans  and  returning  to  the  means  proposed  by 
Turgot — economy,  and  equality  of  taxes.  The  ac- 
count which  he  rendered  was  an  expressive  ac- 
knowledgment of  his  weakness  (1781). 

War  of  America,  1778-84. — Neckar,  we  must 
confess,  had  had  a  double  conflict  to  sustain.  He 
had,  besides  the  expenses  of  the  interior,  to  defray 
those  of  the  war  which  France  carried  on  in  favour 
of  youthful  America  (1778-84-).  France  contrib- 
uted at  that  time  to  raise  against  England  an  Eng- 
lish rival.  Although  the  latter  has  shown  that  she 
does  not  care  to  remember  the  aid,  never  was  money 
better  employed.  The  country  could  not  pay  too 
much  for  the  last  naval  victories  of  France  and  the 
Creation  of  Cherbourg.  There  was  then  a  rare 
season  of  confidence  and  enthusiasm.  France 
envied  America  her  Franklin ;  the  young  French 
nobility  embarked  in  the  crusade  for  liberty. 

Notables,  1787. — -The  king,  who  had  vainly  tried 
the  patriotic  ministers,  Turgot  and  Neckar,  was 
how  influenced  by  the  queen  and  the  court,  and 
chose  courtiers  as  ministers.  One  could  not  find 
a  minister  more  agreeable  than  M.  de  Calonne,  a 


MODERN    HISTORY.  433 

guide  more  ready  to  encourage  his  master  to  plunge 
gayly  into  ruin.  When  he  had  exhausted  the 
credit  which  the  wise  conduct  of  Neckar  had  cre- 
ated, he  knew  not  what  to  do,  and  assembled  the 
Notables  (1787).  He  had  to  confess  that  the 
loans  had  been  raised  within  a  few  years  to  1646 
millions  of  francs,  and  that  an  annual  deficit  ex- 
isted of  140  millions.  The  Notables,  who  them- 
selves belonged  to  the  privileged  classes,  gave  ad- 
vice and  accusations  in  place  of  money.  Brienne, 
raised  by  them  to  the  place  of  Calonne,  had  re- 
course to  duties  ;  the  Parliament  refused  to  regis- 
ter them,  and  demanded  the  States-General,  that 
is  to  say,  their  own  ruin  and  that  of  the  ancient 
monarchy. 

States-General,  1789.  —  The  philosophers  had 
been  overthrown  with  Turgot,  the  bankers  with 
Neckar,  the  courtiers  with  Calonne  and  Brienne. 
The  privileged  would  not  pay,  and  the  people  could 
not  any  longer.  The  States-General,  as  an  emi- 
nent historian  said,  only  decreed  a  revolution,  which 
had  already  taken  place  (opening  of  the  States- 
General,  May  5th,  1789.) 


THE  END. 


'•' 


a, 


/ 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW 


AN  INITIAL  FINE  OF  25  CENTS 

WILL  BE  ASSESSED  FOR  FAILURE  TO  RETURN 
THIS  BOOK  ON  THE  DATE  DUE.  THE  PENALTY 
WILL  INCREASE  TO  5O  CENTS  ON  THE  FOURTH 
DAY  AND  TO  $1.OO  ON  THE  SEVENTH  DAY 
OVERDUE. 


MAY  1 

i48 

D 

t=» 

-j,     ,58£S 

RF' 

I  D 

,,-,--  ^ 

4 
*fc  CIA        JAM  i  -z  77 

MAR  H 

7^3^ 

?>. 

CS4 

A^Di 

17*94 

.  iuo     1  /      3*T 

p^X 

... 

f       If       II                     fV          jn. 

ft^ 

«    A  Infl'&r 

d$K 

yUL     2  3    ,: 

l4Jan°w 

VA  02820 

U.C.BERKELEY  LIBRARIES 


